Tomorrow is the National Signing Day. This is traditionally the first day that a high school senior signs a National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The offer and signing of this Letter of Intent also implies that a students will be getting a scholarship for their study at the university that they sign with.
Over the past few years, SignNow has established special relationships with numerous colleges & universities – such as Arizona State, Boston College, Cornell, University of Nebraska, University of Michigan, Notre Dame, University of Massachusetts, UCLA, Oregon State, University of Connecticut, University of Illinois, and North Dakota, in an effort to streamline paperless processes for official documents.
Here are several points to remember for National Signing Day. And a few tips on how to make the whole process both quick, and well-organized.
What you should know about the National Letter of Intent
A National Letter of Intent is a document indicating a student athlete’s commitment to attend an NCAA college or university.
The tradition started in 1964, when J. William Davis, Professor of Government and Faculty Athletics Representative at Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University), created the National Letter of Intent program.
An NLI should be signed by prospective students who are going to enter a four-year institution for the first time in the academic year. After a student signs the document, they should attend the institution they have signed with in order to receive the promised financial aid.
After the document is signed, NCAA rules forbid other coaches and schools from recruiting these students any further.
Note that verbal offers and commitments are non-binding. Signing also prevents both parties from changing their decision.
Critical points to remember
By allowing a student to sign the NLI, the university is promising to provide an athletic scholarship for that year. Remember that the NLI and financial aid package are two different documents. A student should sign both.
Check the appropriate signing period. See the signing dates for each sport for student-athletes signing in 2018-2019 for 2019-2020 enrollment HERE.
A National Letter of Intent may be faxed by students. However, since these days it’s more common to use wireless transmission as opposed to paper, most students use electronic signatures when signing the NLI.
Electronic signatures allow university faculties to reach recruits in seconds
A decade ago, universities all over the US used to recruit athletes for their sports teams by using fax machines or in-person signing.
Today, an increasing number of universities are switching to e-signing.
With the help of electronic signatures, universities are able to collect letters of intent in a single click, free from the hassles of obsolete faxing technology or having to collect the letter in person.
Both the recruits and faculty can easily store, secure, and quickly access and manage their documents using SignNow. And SignNow is honored to be a part of this national tradition.
We root for each and every student who strives for greatness and aspires for even more than hometown glory by creating newer, easier and more efficient solutions to help them do so.
