NIL and Career Development of International Student-Athletes: USCIS Regulations, VISA Classifications, and Employment-Based Immigration 

By Sungho Cho, J.D.; Ph.D., Bowling Green State University* and Myung-Ah Lee, Ph.D., Indiana State University* In recent years, the United States has witnessed a significant surge in international collegiate student-athletes (ICAs), with a growth rate exceeding 1000% over the past decade (Baghurst et al., 2018). This increase has resulted in ICAs comprising nearly 13% of the total NCAA Division I (D-I) student-athlete population, a trend that has steadily evolved over several decades (Newell