NCAA Suspends Additional $2,000 Scholarship Payment After 125+ Schools Call for Override

In October, the NCAA announced a new program that would increase the value of full-scholarships by $2,000 to cover a perceived shortfall between the value of a “full NCAA scholarship” and the actual cost of attendance towards college. The new program would also allow student-athletes more flexibility in earning other scholarships, up to the value of a full scholarship, without affecting the team’s scholarship limits.

The NCAA has now suspended that legislation at least until their Board of Directors meet in January after they received protests from at least 125 member institutions, which is the number that is required by NCAA bylaws to suspend a piece of legislation. The biggest complaints revolved around a few core ideas. This included how the scholarships would affect the competitive landscape for smaller institutions that could not afford them, the effect on student-athletes in equivalency sports (like swimming), and Title IX implications.

The latter two are most relevant to swimming. Consider that there are 149 head-count scholarships available to each University (most in Division I offer 137 – sans 12 from Women’s Gymnastics). That means that each Athletics Department has a new $280,000 bill tacked on to their annual budget. If you consider that two-thirds of this additional money goes towards male athletes (football and basketball) versus women’s (basketball, volleyball, gymnastic, and tennis), then to maintain Title IX compliance, that means that Athletics Departments have to find a way to balance those opportunities equally for women – either by cutting back in other men’s sports or by offering more opportunities in other women’s sports.

NCAA President Mark Emmert remains optimistic that the core ideas of the legislation will be enacted, though he recognizes that some tweaks to their language could make the transition easier on the member institutions.

“Based on conversations I have had, I am confident that there remains a very high level of support for this permissive legislation to provide better support for our student athletes,” NCAA President Mark Emmert told NCAA.org.

“I am also confident that we can develop implementation changes that will address most of the concerns raised by many of our campus leaders.  It is absolutely critical that we implement this legislation, for example, in a way that supports Title IX and women’s athletic programs.  Modification of the legislation language can certainly achieve this essential requirement.  Similarly, changes can be made that will clarify how this legislation can be implemented more smoothly and with less confusion.”