The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an institution in which the institution agrees to provide a prospective student-athlete who is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules athletics aid for one academic year in exchange for the prospect's agreement to attend the institution for one academic year. 

All colleges and universities that participate in the NLI program agree to not recruit a prospective student-athlete once he/she signs an NLI with another college or university.  Therefore, a prospective student-athlete who signs an NLI should no longer receive recruiting contacts and calls and is ensured an athletics scholarship for one academic year.  The NLI must be accompanied by an institutional financial aid agreement. 

By signing a National Letter of Intent, a prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the designated college or university for one academic year.  If the prospective student-athlete does not attend the signing institution or attends that institution for less than one academic year, and enrolls in another college that participates in the National Letter of Intent program there may be eligibility ramifications. The basic penalty may preclude the student-athlete from representing the second college until completing an academic year in residence at the latter institution and may lose one season of competition in all sports.

Aid based in any degree on athletics ability cannot be awarded in excess of one academic year; the decision of whether a student-athlete is awarded institutional financial aid is made on a year-by-year basis, depending on the regulations of the institution. Coaches cannot tell a prospect that their scholarship will be for four years.  Coaches can only tell a prospect what the usually process is for renewing a scholarship.