THE BASIC RULE: The basic rule of the National Letter of Intent (NLI) is that in exchange for athletics financial aid for one full academic year, a signing prospective student-athlete makes a commitment to attend the signing institution for one full academic year.
BASIC PENALTY: If a prospective student-athlete does not attend the signing institution or attends that institution for less than one academic year, and that student enrolls in another NLI institution, that student may not represent the sec-ond
institution until they have completed two academic years in residence at the latter institution.  Additionally, the student will lose two seasons of competition in all sports.
EXCEPTION TO THE BASIC PENALTY: If a student-athlete and a signing institution mutually agree to enter into a
Qualified Release Agreement, the basic penalty provision may be reduced. Under the terms of a Qualified Release Agreement, a student-athlete shall not be eligible for competition at a second NLI institution during the student-athlete’s
first academic year of residence there. Additionally, the student-athlete shall lose one season of competition.
QUALIFIED RELEASE AGREEMENT: In 1998 the name of the Mutual Release Agreement was changed to the Qualified Release Agreement. The name was changed in an effort to help student-athletes and institutions appreciate
that the release agreement is not a full release from the NLI. The new Qualified Release Agreement is available to
member institutions and the general public at the NLI internet web site (http://www.national-letter.org/).

APPEALING THE TERMS OF THE QUALIFIED RELEASE AGREEMENT: Once a student-athlete receives a Qualified
Release Agreement he/she may request a waiver of the one year penalty (i.e., a full and complete release) by filing an appeal with the NLI Steering Committee. The NLI Steering Committee has jurisdiction to hear cases based upon exten-uating circumstances. Petitioning students should submit an appeal form along with a copy of a completed Qualified Release Agreement to the NLI Program Office. Petitioning student -athletes are notified in writing regarding the NLI Steering Committee’s determination on their appeal. The appeals process takes approximately 3-5 weeks. Decisions of
the NLI Steering Committee may be appealed to the NLI Appeals Committee. All decisions of the NLI Appeals
Committee are final.
THE ONE-YEAR ABSENCE RULE: To seek to apply the one-year absence rule, the student- athlete cannot have ppreviously attended a participating NLI institution. Accordingly, if a student-athlete has not attended any institution or has attended an institution such as a prep school or a junior college that does not participate in the NLI Program for at least one academic year after signing, the student-athlete can seek to apply this provision. To do so, the student must make a request to the Director of Athletics for athletics aid for the subsequent fall term. Thereafter, the student must receive a statement from the Director of Athletics stating that financial aid is not available for the upcoming term. Absent such a statement from the Director of Athletics, the NLI is considered valid.

http://www.nationalletter.org/documents/AdminGuide.pdf