Student-Athlete Reinstatement (SAR) is a team within the NCAA's academic and membership affairs department. The SAR staff processes violations and waivers that directly affect the eligibility of a prospective student-athlete or an enrolled student-athlete. When a school discovers an NCAA rules violation has occurred, it must declare the prospective student-athlete or enrolled student-athlete ineligible and may request their eligibility be reinstated through the Requests/Self Reports Online (RSRO) system. The SAR staff reviews each student-athlete reinstatement request individually based on its own merits and set of specific facts.
SAR Philosophy
SAR subscribes to the Students-first philosophy, ensuring the individual student-athlete, as well as the general student-athlete body, is at the forefront of each decision. With respect to a violation, SAR attempts to place the student-athlete back in the position he or she would have been prior to the violation occurring. SAR does this by evaluating the totality of the circumstances surrounding each particular case.
Student-Athlete Reinstatement Submission Process Through RSRO.
- On the menu bar above, click on the My Apps tab.
- On the My Apps page, click on Requests/Self-Reports Online.
- If RSRO does not appear on the My Applications tab, contact your institutional Single-Source Sign-On administrator to have the application added to your privileges.
- Click on the Request or Self-Report.
- Select from the drop-down menu to begin a request.
If you have questions or have trouble with submission of your SAR request, please send an email with your issue to rsro@ncaa.org. Please provide the case number in your email.
Division I
NCAA Division I Board of Directors Waiver Guidance for 2025-26 Eligibility Question and Answer Document
On December 23, 2024, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors approved a waiver to permit student-athletes who attended and competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years to remain eligible to compete in 2025-26 if those student-athletes would have otherwise used their final season of competition during the 2024-25 academic year and meet all other eligibility requirements (e.g., progress toward degree, five-year period of eligibility).
This question-and-answer document is designed to assist the NCAA membership in understanding the scope of the waiver.
Hardship Waiver Resources
For injuries or illnesses occurring on or after August 1, 2022:
For injuries or illnesses that occurred prior to August 1, 2022:
The following worksheets are a required component of hardship waiver requests and/or appeals submitted to the reinstatement staff through Requests/Self-Reports Online (RSRO) for injuries or illnesses that occurred prior to August 1, 2022. Â Individual conference offices have discretion regarding whether the worksheets are required for hardship waivers reviewed at the conference level.
Questions regarding application of the hardship waiver legislation should be submitted as an interpretive request through RSRO. Â Questions regarding use of the worksheets should be directed to the student-athlete reinstatement staff.
Season of Competition and Extension of Eligibility
Transfer Injunction Self-Applied Relief for Extension of Eligibility
Consistent with May 2024, consent judgment and permanent injunction, NCAA Division I institutions may self-apply a one-year extension of eligibility waiver for Division I student-athletes who were required to fulfill a transfer year of residence during the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, or 2023-24 academic years provided the student-athlete:
- Transferred between two four-year institutions more than once;
- Is currently enrolled at a Division I institution; and
- Is currently otherwise eligible to compete, or their eligibility expired during the 2023-24 academic year.
Institutions should document all self-applied relief so there is a record of such self-application; however, institutions are not required to report self-application to the NCAA staff. Extension-of-eligibility waivers apply on a sport-by-sport basis and must be used at the first available opportunity (i.e., immediately after the student-athlete’s five-year period of eligibility expires). Therefore, student-athletes may only use the self-applied extension in the sport they were deemed ineligible to compete in during or since the 2019-20 academic year.
Division II
Division III
