http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/01/17/ncaa-scholarship-vote-power-5-conferences
Representatives from the NCAA’s “Power 5” conferences voted on Saturday to expand what Division I schools are allowed to provide student-athletes under an athletic scholarship.
As a result of the 79-1 vote – which included 65 school representatives and 15 athlete representatives, three from each conference – schools in the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC are allowed to award full cost-of-attendance scholarships in all sports.
Now from USA Today
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.
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.
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.
Other points-
– 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.
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.