NCAA Increases Value of a "Full-Scholarship" by $2,000, Ups Academic Requirements

Today, the NCAA made a landmark decision that is aimed at curtailing the rampant accounts of under-the-table pay to student athletes by increasing the value of a full scholarship by $2,000 per semester, or up to the “full cost of attendance,” whichever is less. The argument that has been made by many is that athletes are more tempted to accept gifts from overzealous boosters because the current scholarship structure doesn’t address the full cost of a college education.

In “equivalency sports” like swimming, the award is only available to those who receive aid equivalent to a full-scholarship. This is as compared to sports like football, basketball, women’s tennis, women’s gymnastics, and women’s volleyball, where every scholarship athlete stands as a full-ride athlete.

The effect on swimming will not be that significant. It will be more meaningful in women’s swimming, where full scholarships are more common, than men’s, where partials are the norm. Pragmatically, the swimming demographic is not the one that these rules changes were aimed towards. There is very little violation of the amateur athlete rules in swimming, and athletes’ attendance in college is not usually dependent on the value of a scholarship.

The other big change is an adjustment to the NCAA’s requirement for post-season competition with regard to the APR rules. The APR is a calculation used by the NCAA to gauge the progress of teams’ academic success.

There’s a few caveats to the rule, but effectively the NCAA has mandated that each team have a 930 Academic Progress Rate (APR) to participate in NCAA post-season play. In swimming, this would include conference championship meets and NCAA Championship meets. The NCAA reasons that a 930 APR equates to about a 50% attendance rate.

Swim teams usually have some of the better academic standings on campus, but not always. They can also be affected by high attrition rates. Some teams have been hurt by this rule as the result of foreign athletes on a squad who struggle to adjust to the American educational system (and learn English) right away, though not always.

The table below shows programs that have had a yearly APR below 930 since the NCAA started tracking the rate. Some of these programs did not meet the old standard, and have been hit by reduced scholarships already.

The problem has been more significant for men’s teams than women’s and as you can see below powerhouse programs like Tennessee, Auburn, Texas, and Texas A&M have at some point in their history been in a position where they could be in danger under the full force of the new rules (which will take affect in 2015-2016). By my understanding of the rules, Auburn would not have been eligible for the NCAA Championships in 2009 when they won the National Championship.

The APR rules are not all that easy to understand, and we will work in the next week to get an interview with someone who has more expertise to discuss the new changes and their affects.

A full record of APR scores can be searched here.

Full explanation of the new rules can be found here.