On April 3, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Urgent National Action to Save College Sports.” The order is the second from this administration addressing college athletics and builds on the July 2025 “Saving College Sports” order. The new order focuses on protecting women’s and Olympic sports, preserving institutional financial responsibility and establishing a uniform national framework for college athletics governance, with an effective date of August 1, 2026.
The Order
The EO directs federal agencies that contract with or provide grants to higher education institutions to evaluate compliance with the rules of the applicable intercollegiate athletic governing body, with particular attention to eligibility limits, transfer rules, revenue-sharing and improper financial activities. The director of the Office of Management and Budget and the administrator of General Services are directed to issue guidance to these agencies to reinforce suspension and debarment policy for noncompliant institutions.
The EO further directs “the interstate intercollegiate athletic governing body for higher education institutions” to update its rules to establish:
- Eligibility limits capping participation in college athletics at five years and prohibiting professional athletes from returning to collegiate competition
- Transfer rules permitting one transfer during the five-year eligibility period and one additional transfer upon completion of a four-year degree, with restrictions designed to protect academic development and season integrity
- Medical care for student-athletes for athletics-related injuries during enrollment and for a reasonable period thereafter
- Revenue-sharing implemented in a manner that preserves scholarships and opportunities for women’s and Olympic sports
- A prohibition on the use of federal funds for name, image and likeness (NIL) or revenue-sharing payments
- A prohibition on improper financial activities, including those involving collectives or other third-party, pay-for-play arrangements
- A national student-athlete agent registry with protections against excessive agent commissions
The administrator of General Services is also directed to propose a compliance reporting collection to be completed by institution officials, and the secretary of education is directed to undertake rulemaking to require regular institutional reporting on roster spots and aid expenditures related to athletics, disaggregated by men’s and women’s teams.
Finally, the order directs the attorney general to take measures to invalidate state laws that conflict with the interstate intercollegiate athletic governing body rules, discriminate against out-of-state commerce, impair contractual relationships, or are otherwise invalid under federal law.
“Saving College Sports” Executive Order
In July 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Saving College Sports” that notably focused on clarifying the educational status of student-athletes. Specifically, the order directed the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to “determine and implement the appropriate measures with respect to clarifying the status of collegiate athletes, including through guidance, rules, or other appropriate actions, that will maximize the educational benefits and opportunities provided by higher education institutions through athletics.” The new order does not address this issue.
CUPA-HR will monitor for implementation updates related to the new EO and will keep members apprised of other federal updates related to student-athlete employment classification.