Clarifying Big Ten's scholarship upgrade plan

This is a scholarship structural issue; it's not about stipends or salaries for athletes. The Big Ten is proposing whether a full scholarship (grant-in-aid) should cover more costs than it already does. Scholarships currently cover tuition and fees, room and board and books. The proposal would have scholarships potentially cover "cost of attendance," a dollar figure set by each institution according to federal regulations for financial aid. The difference between the current scholarship cost and one that covers cost of attendance has been estimated at an average of $2,000-$5,000 per athlete per year.

If the proposal is adopted at the NCAA level (more on this later), it would affect every athlete on a full scholarship. A women's soccer goalie would have the same scholarship structure as a quarterback.

Rittenberg