By Taylor McGillis, Staff Writer
On Oct. 27 the NCAA Division I Board of Directors voted on a few proposals that will allow each conference to make the decision on whether or not its member institutions can increase the student-athlete scholarship package to include the full cost of attendance. The proposal also includes the possibilities of multi-year scholarships as well as making the academic standards tougher on student-athletes. After the proposals were accepted NCAA president Mark Emmert said, “It was one of the most aggressive and fullest agendas the board has ever faced.” They moved with dispatch on it, and I think they’re taking positive steps for schools and student-athletes” (Associated Press).
What exactly does the full cost of attendance mean? The full cost of attendance is the extra few thousand dollars it typically costs a student-athlete to attend college over the duration of the year. If the institution is a member of a conference who will allow them to do so, the school has the choice to start giving full-scholarship student-athletes $2000 in addition to their tuition, room, and board. It is only applicable to those student-athletes who are receiving full scholarships, not the majority of them who are only receiving partial scholarships. The only sports that all members have full scholarships are football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and volleyball.
Where is this extra money coming from? The hundreds of thousands of dollars schools will be spending on giving their full scholarship athletes the additional $2,000 will come from the institution’s athletic department. Even though the NCAA approved this addition, they will not be funding it. Currently, at the University of South Florida, there are 460 student-athletes in total, but only 160 of them are receiving full scholarships. That means only those 160 student-athletes will be receiving the extra $2000 dollars in scholarship money. As result, that will require their athletic department to set aside $320,000 in annual stipends. South Florida will immediately begin handing out the additional $2,000 to its full scholarship athletes as the Big East Conference has not said that they will not allow it.
Will Saint Leo athletes be getting the stipend? No, the full cost of attendance stipend was only approved by the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and since Saint Leo competes at the Division II level, our athletes are not eligible to receive the payments. Although our athletic teams will not be involved directly with the change at the Division I level, we will certainly feel the effects. From a recruiting standpoint, it could have an effect on an athlete’s decision on what school to attend. If a prospective student-athlete is deciding between Saint Leo and a school that offers the $2,000 stipend for full scholarship athletes, it could definitely be a factor in their decision. Saint Leo head men’s basketball Coach Lance Randall agreed that it could affect some things from a recruiting standpoint. “I think this ruling will result in a further disparity between NCAA Division I and Division II. I see this having a possible negative effect in two ways. First, we are currently recruiting high school student-athletes against many NCAA Division I programs. Going against programs with 13 full scholarships and cash in hand will make our job even more difficult. Secondly, in men’s basketball, many of the best players in the Sunshine State Conference were transferred from Division I programs. There may be less of a propensity to transfer to Division II by those considering leaving. It will certainly cause them to pause and reexamine whether they are willing to give up this stipend, thus pushing more transfers to stay at that level.”
People will have different opinions on the decision to implement the stipends, but many schools will be offering them starting immediately. Whether or not it will improve college athletics is still undetermined, but will certainly change the current landscape of the sport.
