Can Your Athletic Scholarship Be Cancelled at Mid-Year?

We’ve consulted recently with families regarding situations in which their athlete has been dismissed or suspended from a team with little to no explanation as to why they were removed from their team.

While these situations are certainly unfortunate and appear unfair, decisions as to who a coach keeps on their roster are left to the discretion of the coach by most athletic directors. If a coach removes an athlete from their team, the athlete may have no choice but to transfer to another school.

However, if an athlete is receiving an athletic scholarship, the NCAA rules limit the ability of a coach or athletic department to cancel the scholarship in the middle of the academic year.

Mid-year cancellation of a scholarship is only possible if an athlete:

• Is ruled ineligible for competition,

• Provides fraudulent information on an application, letter of intent, or financial aid agreement,

• Engages in serious misconduct that rises to the level of being disciplined by the university’s regular student disciplinary board,

• Voluntarily quits their team,

• Violates an athletic department or team rule or policy.

Also, an NCAA Division I athlete entering the Transfer Portal could possibly lose their scholarship at midyear.

My advice to athletes and parents:

Review very carefully any athletic department or university rules and policies that spell out the non-athletic reasons that can be cited for the cancellation of an athletic scholarship.

If your athlete is concerned about their scholarship being taken away mid-year, schedule a confidential scholarship consultation online with me to discuss the situation and options your athlete may have.