Athletics: Compliance – Initial Financial Aid Grants

The following will outline the steps to be taken for the initial offering of a St. Mary’s University Athletics Grant:

• The head coach (or his/her designee) completes a Intent to Enroll Worksheet Form. This form must include prospect name, applicable sport, birthdate, NCAA Eligibility Center account number, “Type” of prospects (i.e. High School, Two-Year College, Four-Year College prospect), home address, contact information, amount of athletics grant and the academic year or part thereof that the grant will be applicable for. The form is submitted to the Athletics Compliance Office.
• The Director of Financial Assistance, in conjunction with the Athletics Compliance Office, evaluates the recommended amount of athletics grant to ensure this amount is permissible pursuant to all NCAA and institutional regulations regarding financial aid.
• The Dean of Undergraduate Admissions verifies that the prospect has been admitted or is “admissible” per St. Mary’s University (TX) admission standards.
• The Compliance Officer prepares a St. Mary’s University Athletics Financial Aid Agreement (AFAA) and National Letter of Intent (NLI) if applicable.
• The NLI, if applicable, is reviewed and signed by Athletics Director (or his/her designee).
• The AFAA is reviewed and signed by Athletics Director (or his/her designee) and Director of Financial Assistance.
• Letter from the Director of Financial Assistance accompanies NLI, if applicable, and/or AFAA with recommendation page, detailing the applicable sport and its recommendation to offer an athletics grant for applicable academic year or portion thereof.
• The NLI, if applicable, AFAA and recommendation letter is emailed by Compliance Officer to the prospect with instructions to sign and return to the Athletics Compliance Office.
• When the NLI, if applicable, and/or AFAA are received, the compliance officer verifies the validity of the NLI, if applicable, and/or AFAA. If the NLI, if applicable, and/or AFAA are valid, the documents are confirmed with a date stamp, the Head Coach is notified and documents are uploaded to the NCAA NLI Portal. If the NLI is invalid, the Head Coach is notified.

National Letter of Intent

The NLI is applicable to prospective student-athletes (PSA) who will be entering a four-year institution for the first time as full-time students. It is also permissible for a 4-2-4 transfer who is matriculating from a two-year institution.

Coaching staff must adhere to the publicized signing dates for the NLI to be valid. These dates will be distributed and are available in the Compliance Office. All requests for an NLI must be made in writing using the NLI Worksheet Form and provided to the Compliance Office. The request must be accompanied by the amount of athletics aid and current transcripts. Please be sure to submit the request within a time frame that allows for signatures to be acquired (i.e., Financial Aid).

Please consult with Director of Athletics and or Associate AD for Internal Operations prior to issuing NLI to a PSA that you intend on redshirting upon enrollment at StMU.