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. 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. 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
How to Prepare Reinstatement Requests
Once the institution has determined that a violation has occurred, it should determine whether the violation affects the eligibility of a prospective or enrolled student-athlete. If the violation affects eligibility, the institution shall declare the prospective student-athlete or student-athlete ineligible and decide whether to request reinstatement of the prospective student-athlete or student-athlete’s eligibility. If the institution decides to seek reinstatement, all interpretive issues and disputes of fact must be resolved prior to submitting a reinstatement request through Requests/Self-Reports Online (RSRO). All information pursuant to the reinstatement request must be uploaded to RSRO.
Information that is marked as “to be faxed” in RSRO will render the request incomplete until all faxes have been received and uploaded. Faxes must be sent individually to 317/917-6736 and may result in a delay in case processing.
Once all necessary and relevant information is received, the student-athlete reinstatement staff will render a decision. An institution may appeal the decision to the NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement. The appeal must be requested through RSRO in the withdraw/reconsideration/appeal tab within 30 calendar days from the time the student-athlete reinstatement staff sends the decision through RSRO. After 30 calendar days, the case is automatically closed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Who makes the decisions on reinstatement cases?
A. NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff issues initial decisions in all cases submitted by the membership. The reinstatement staff's decisions may be appealed to the appropriate divisional Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement via Requests/Self-Reports Online case management system. The committee, which is comprised of members of representatives from member institutions and conference offices, has the authority to amend a decision or lessen a penalty imposed by the reinstatement staff, but it does not have the authority to increase a penalty.
Q. Does the staff have any interaction with the committee on a particular case?
A.The reinstatement staff has been given the authority to act on behalf of the committee and issue decisions on all reinstatement requests. The reinstatement staff does not communicate with the committee when a reinstatement request is submitted via RSRO. If the institution appeals the reinstatement staff's decision, the committee receives a copy of all relevant materials submitted and a teleconference or written review of the record occurs. In cases involving a teleconference appeal, the reinstatement staff, institutional representatives and the student-athlete or prospective student-athlete present relevant information to the committee. The reinstatement staff and the committee do not have any ex parte communication regarding a specific case.
Q. To whom does the committee report, and who has authority over policies and decisions?
A. The NCAA Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement reports to the NCAA Division I Legislative Committee and, thus, all general policies or guidelines for processing of cases are reported to the Legislative Committee. The NCAA Divisions II and III Committees on Student-Athlete Reinstatement report to the NCAA Divisions II and III Management Councils, respectively. The Legislative Committee and Management Councils may assist in setting policy and guidelines. Actual case decisions, however, cannot be appealed beyond the Divisions I, II or III Committees on Student-Athlete Reinstatement.
Q. How long does the reinstatement process take?
A. The length of time it takes to process a reinstatement request varies greatly based on the complexity of the case. Often a reinstatement request that involves serious and/or complex violations of NCAA regulations will require follow-up. Once all information is submitted via RSRO and the facts of the case are complete, it takes approximately a week for the reinstatement staff to render an initial decision that is communicated to the institution through RSRO. The reinstatement staff is very aware of competition dates and strives to render decisions prior to the next date of competition, whenever possible.
Q. Who can request reinstatement?
A. An NCAA member institution must request reinstatement through RSRO on behalf of a student-athlete or prospective student-athlete.
Q. Can a student-athlete be represented by legal counsel?
A. A student-athlete may be represented by legal counsel during the reinstatement process. It is not required, and the process can be navigated without legal counsel.
