President Trump's Executive Order May Reshape College Softball and Women’s Sports Programs

The President of the United States is getting involved with the forever-changing college sports landscape.

On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to regulate college sports. The order directly affects college softball.

The order, which was posted by The White House, also grants the NCAA the ability to limit athlete transfer movement, cap player eligibility, require funding requirements for women and Olympic sports, and regulate NIL collectives.

The order requires schools to fund women's and Olympic sports at a certain level. Trump writes that non-revenue programs are being eliminated or at least defunded, as schools shift more resources to football and men’s basketball.

Attached are the key parts of the Trump EO on college sports.

Story from earlier here - https://t.co/E8KAxpuza9 pic.twitter.com/LyR8tkpWBr
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) April 3, 2026

Trump states in the order that "this chaotic state of affairs has undermined competition, reduced opportunities for student-athletes, and jeopardized support for the current range of college athletics, particularly women’s and Olympic sports."

The order also details Trump's understanding of Olympic sports losing funding because of the need to fund football and men's basketball.

"Further, without a national solution to protect the future of competition and opportunity in all college sports, it is possible that the largest college football programs will be forced to seek stability through a negotiated solution that may result in the withdrawal of financial and other resources from women’s and Olympic sports."

Trump writes in the order that the NCAA should clarify its transfer rules and return to a "one-time transfer" policy. This rule would deter student-athletes from transferring more than once or risk being penalized. because the order suggests that student-athletes will only have a five-year window to participate in college sports.

The order also gives student-athletes five years to play seasons.

Here are the transfer concepts in the executive order as Trump writes that the NCAA should clarify its transfer rules to return to the one-time policy. pic.twitter.com/HWaG11pXZc
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) April 3, 2026

"Participation in college athletics is permitted for no more than a five-year period, with limited exceptions for military service, missionary service, and other periods of absence from participation that are in the public interest," the order states.

The other exception would be if a student-athlete graduates with a four-year degree, they would be permitted to transfer again and wouldn't be penalized.

By implementing these new rules by Aug. 1, 2016, Trump is hoping to bring change before the next school year starts.

NCAA president Charlie Baker released a statement on the order Friday evening:

"The NCAA has modernized college sports to deliver more benefits for student-athletes, and the Executive Order reinforces many of our mandatory protections – including guaranteed health care coverage, mental health services, and scholarship protections.

"This action is a significant step forward, and we appreciate the Administration's interest and attention to these issues. Stabilizing college athletics for student-athletes still requires a permanent, bipartisan federal legislative solution, so we look forward to continuing to work alongside the Administration and Congress to enact targeted legislation with the support of student-athlete leaders from all three divisions."

To read the all 10 pages of the executive order, visit The White House website here.