How hard is it to transfer colleges

Emailing the coach you want to transfer to would be a good first step. Then go from there.

As long as the new coach is accepting of you running for his team, transferring to a comparable school isn't a big deal so long as you have the grades.

Step 1: As your head coach for a 'permission to contact'. This does not necessarily mean a release, but just means you are allowed to shop around. You will need a version of this you can email to coaches for them to give to their compliance office. If you know one of the schools you want to talk to is in your conference, just tell them so you know right away if they put that as one of the stipulations as to who you can contact. Coaches are allowed to say who they are willing to release you to or not and some people say things like no conference teams, but some do not as well.

Step 2: Start emailing coaches (make sure your email has your permission to contact attached).

Step 3: Take a few visits, shop around, see what you like. You may end up deciding that you like where you are and do not want to go anywhere.

Step 4: If you do decide you want to go somewhere else and know where it is at, this is when you want to ask for your official release. It looks better to ask for the release after you have made up your mind just in case you end up staying at the same school. Asking if you can look around is a lot nicer to your coach than just coming out and saying that you want a release.

Remember the school you are at does not have to release you, so if they choose to do this, you will have to sit out for one year at the school you transfer to. However most coaches are somewhat reasonable and as long as there is no bad blood will let athletes make the right decision for their academic career.

Ask Colin Cotton, he's done it about 50 times

If you aren't happy at one particular university, you probably won't be happy at some other one. Sorry, that is just the way it works.

I transferred this year so I can give you a bit of insight. You will need to secure a release from your coach (shouldn't be an issue). Simply tell your coach what you've told us and he will supply you with a release. Once you have confirmation from your schools compliance, you can start contacting other universities. I don't know what your P.R's are so I can't make a call on how interested other universities will be in you as a runner. My experience was quite positive and similar to high school with a number of schools making offers. Hope you get it all sorted and best of luck!