NCAA increases value of scholarships in historic vote

Steve Berkowitz | USA TODAY Sports

FORT WASHINGTON, Md.— In landmark action for major-college sports, schools and athlete representatives from the NCAA's five wealthiest conferences on Saturday voted 79-1 to expand what Division I schools can provide under an athletic scholarship.

The vote, taken during the NCAA's annual convention, redefines an athletic scholarship so that it can cover not only the traditional tuition, room, board, books and fees, but also the incidental costs of attending college. That means a scholarship will now be able to pay for items including transportation and miscellaneous personal expenses.

Conservatively this means Division I men's and women's athletes collectively stand to gain at least $50 million a year in additional benefits.

The change occurred under new governance setup that allows the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Pacific-12 and Southeastern conferences greater autonomy in rules making. The vote by the 65 schools and 15 athlete representatives -- three from each of the five conferences – allows, but does not require, all Division I schools to award these so-called cost-of-attendance scholarships in all sports.

The single "No" vote on COA was Boston College, according to a record of the electronic voting provided by the NCAA. BC released a statement late Saturday that said, in part, the school "is concerned with continuing to pass legislation that increases expenses when the vast majority of schools are already institutionally subsidized. The consequence of such legislation could ultimately hurt student-athletes if/when programs are cut. This legislation further segregates student-athletes from the general student population by increasing aid without need-based consideration. Legislation already exists for student-athletes in need through Pell grants and the student-assistance fund."

In another significant change, the schools and the reps narrowly approved legislation that will prevent schools and coaches from choosing not to renew an athlete's scholarship for athletic reasons. Under the system that has been in place, most athletic scholarships are subject to annual renewal.

But most of the attention coming into the convention and on Saturday was placed on the cost-of-attendance vote.

"It's not a destination," said SEC executive associate commissioner Greg Sankey, "but it's a really, really important milestone for the five conferences and Division I."

"It's hard to say at the moment that something's history-making," said Wake Forest president Nathan Hatch, who presided over Saturday's debate and voting. "It is a significant change, and I think it is the beginning of these five conferences working together on important issues. … I couldn't be happier."

Also Saturday, the schools and athlete reps voted to:

--- Allow athletes to borrow against future earnings to purchase so-called loss-of-value insurance – policies that can help athletes if an injury while playing college sports results in an athlete getting less money from a professional contract than they might have otherwise gotten.

-- Approve a resolution under which they pledge to, within the next two years, approve rules changes that would regulate time demands on athletes "to ensure an appropriate balance between athletics participation and the academic obligations and opportunities presented to students generally." Other changes to be addressed include those related to athletes' access to career-related insurance and interaction with agents.

The new rules take effect Aug. 1, 2015, but scholarship agreements for the 2015-16 school year can be executed prior to that date.

In court filings in the Ed O'Bannon antitrust lawsuit, the NCAA has indicated that, nationally, there is an average difference of about $2,500 between the value of a current athletic scholarship and the value of an athletic scholarship based on cost of attendance.

Just with the 65 schools in the autonomy conferences and figuring schools would pay for at least around 200 athletes (85 football players, 13 men's basketball players and an proportionate amount of women), the starting total would be $32.5 million.The belief is other Division I schools would at least pay for men's and women's basketball which could bringing the total to $51.9 million.

As under the current system, that could mean cash into some athletes pockets. Currently, for instance, an athlete living off-campus can get a housing stipend based on the school's dormitory costs; if the athlete's actual living arrangement costs less, they can keep the difference, said ACC senior associate commissioner for internal affairs Brad Hostetter.

Similarly, Hostetter said, under the cost-of-attendance arrangement, an athlete will now be able to get what amounts to a stipend based on the school's estimate of a typical student's transportation and personal expense costs. If the athlete's actual transportation and personal expenses are less, they will be able to keep the difference.

The key, Hostetter said, is that each school must determine athletes' cost of attendance under the same policies it uses to determine the cost of attendance for all its students. That has raised concerns in the higher-education world about pressure that could be brought to bear on schools' financial aid officers, who also have the authority under U.S. Department of Education guidelines to use what is termed "professional judgment" to adjust students' cost of attendance on a case-by-case basis, although such variances must be documented.

The autonomy schools and athlete representatives on Saturday voted against a proposal from the SEC that would have required schools to regularly file a report to the NCAA about any unusual expenses they may be covering for any athlete.

The decision to increase the value of scholarships comes after years of discussion within the association which included concerns over how programs would fund them.

In an interview with USA TODAY Sports prior to the start of the convention, University of South Carolina president Harris Pastides said he was looking forward to a meeting that would be "an active one, even historic."

"I think it's an opportunity to, if I may say, re-plant the flag and say that the NCAA is an organization of universities that know what they're doing and can come together even with diverse perspectives and do what's right for student-athletes," added Pastides, who on Saturday was selected to become chairman of the Division I Board of Directors.

"I think other years and in other places maybe the conventions were more about tinkering with policy and/or changing a rule here or there – and we will do that, as well. But I think this one is about kind of re-planting the flag and saying, 'We're the trusted organization in charge of college athletics.' "

Saturday's vote follows several recent moves to improve conditions for major-college athletes. In April 2014, the NCAA approved unlimited meals and snacks for Division I athletes.

A little less than two weeks ago, just before the new College Football Playoff championship game, the CFP and the NCAA announced that they will provide financial assistance to cover travel expenses for the families of athletes participating in the 2015 CFP title game and the 2015 Final Fours of the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments. (NCAA President Mark Emmert said here earlier this week that the future of those two "pilot programs" will be up to the member schools.)

The moves also come about five months after a federal district judge ruled against the NCAA in a lawsuit that challenged the NCAA's limits on what Bowl Subdivision football and Division I men's basketball players can receive for playing sports and for the use of the names, images and likenesses in in live television broadcasts, rebroadcasts of games and video games. In a ruling that the NCAA has appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Claudia Wilken said that the NCAA's current scholarship rules "unreasonably restrain trade" in violation of antitrust laws. In her ruling, injunction and a subsequent interpretation of the injunction, she said the NCAA will be able to cap the amount of new compensation that the football and men's basketball players can receive while they are in school, but that cap will not be allowed to be an amount that is less than the athletes' cost of attending school.

Wilken also decided to allow schools and conferences to deposit money in trust for football and men's basketball players that will become payable when they leave school or their eligibility expires.

In another significant change, the schools and the reps narrowly approved legislation that will prevent schools and coaches from choosing not to renew an athlete's scholarship for athletic reasons. Under the system that has been in place, most athletic scholarships are subject to annual renewal.

In another significant change, the schools and the reps narrowly approved legislation that will prevent schools and coaches from choosing not to renew an athlete's scholarship for athletic reasons. Under the system that has been in place, most athletic scholarships are subject to annual renewal.

Contributing: George Schroeder