NCAA legislation to add $2,000 to value of athletics scholarship fair, reasonable

Reasonable and fair are not words often associated with NCAA legislation. But a fast-track proposal to add $2,000 annually to the value of a full athletics grant-in-aid is just that.

Reasonable because the NCAA made this cost-of-attendance stipend as affordable as possible for financially strapped athletic departments.

Fair because about $50 a week to a full scholarship athlete to spend on galpal, boytoy and/or pizza emergencies is hardly excessive.

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors, a group of 18 university presidents that includes Hampton's William Harvey, is scheduled to consider the issue this month and forward suggestions to the full membership for a January vote.

"Given the widespread support from both presidents and athletic directors, passage seems likely," Colorado State assistant compliance director John Infante wrote on the NCAA's Bylaw Blog, an excellent resource for anyone hoping to understand the association's governance maze.

Athletic scholarships presently are limited to tuition, fees, room, board and books. There is no component to help cover incidentals such as travel home, entertainment, laundry ? academic grants often include such a provision.

Likely to take effect in 2012-13 at the earliest, the NCAA proposal would increase the limit up to $2,000. In sports that award partial scholarships, the money would be prorated ? a half-scholarship athlete, for example, could receive as much as $1,000.

The prorating is critical for schools outside the six major conferences: ACC, Big Ten, Pacific 12, Big 12, Big East and Southeastern. More important: Individual schools and conferences will have complete autonomy deciding whether and in which sports to implement the stipend.

"For our level, we might do it in basketball and a couple other sports," Colonial Athletic Association commissioner Tom Yeager said Tuesday. "I don't think there's much sense in going across the board in football with all those scholarships because we're not going head-to-head with the ACC in recruiting.

"So it's not the end of the world (financially). ? It's going to be completely optional."

That's a relief to CAA schools such as William and Mary. Were the Tribe obligated to $2,000 per full scholarship, the cost would be approximately $358,000 annually.

That's significant for an athletics department that in 2009-10 reported only $8.4 million in revenue from sources other than student fees. But if the CAA adopted cost-of-attendance for men's and women's basketball only, the tab would range from $50,000-$60,000, far more manageable.

Plus, Yeager said, a school will have the option of awarding the additional funds only to athletes it considers in need "because it's the right thing to do."

The equation is drastically different at major conference schools such as the University of Virginia. Competition for the best prospects in sports from football to field hockey virtually mandates that they fork over the $2,000 per full scholarship.

For the Cavaliers, that translates to approximately $733,000 per year. Let's put that number in context.

For the 2009-10 academic year, Virginia reported $70.9 million in athletics expenses to the U.S. Department of Education, second among ACC schools to Florida State's $75.2 million. The Cavaliers also reported $81.8 million in revenue for a conference-best $10.9 million surplus.

So while not insignificant, $733,000 represents only 1 percent of the Cavaliers' budget and 6.7 percent of their surplus. Moreover, if Sports Business Journal projections of a post-expansion ACC earning at least $1 million more per school in annual television revenue are accurate, Virginia will have more than enough to pay the freight.

With $50.2 million in expenses and $58.1 million in revenue, Virginia Tech is similarly positioned.

Please understand, this is not a first step toward paying college athletes a salary. No one in power has the stomach for that, and all realize the value of a free college education.

Plus, as Yeager reminds, athletes in need still can apply for federal Pell Grants, worth more than $5,000 per year, and/or the NCAA's Special Assistance Fund, which this year totals $1.5 million for CAA schools.

"I'm fine with all this," Yeager said, "and it wouldn't matter if I weren't. It's coming anyway."

David Teel can be reached at 757-247-4636 or by email at dteel@dailypress.com. For more from Teel, read his blog at dailypress.com/sports/teeltime and follow him at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hrdailypress/sports/~3/-BN4xcLPXl0/dp-spt-teel-column-cost-attendance-20111004,0,2483585.column

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