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http://hamptonroads.com/2014/08/odu-norf...me-cheaply

Quote:Earlier this month, the NCAA board of directors voted 16-2 to give those conferences autonomy to make their own rules. It seems virtually certain that a year from now, the NCAA will allow schools to begin paying scholarship athletes the full cost of college.

For some of the richest schools in college athletics, that will mean paying upwards of $5,000 apiece for all scholarship athletes above and beyond what grants have typically paid: tuition, room and board.

Many Conference USA schools have vowed to try to keep up with their more powerful FBS brethren. But Broderick said ODU won't blindly follow the pack.

Instead, the school will employ a need-based formula for paying the cost of attending college. Athletes will compensated only if they have financial need for the extra stipend, he said. To do it any other way, Broderick said, would be unfair to students not on athletic scholarships who may be struggling financially.

"No one is exactly sure how all of this will play out," he said. "But we have to ensure that we're not in some instances giving money to students who don't need it while we don't provide the same resources to other students on campus who do have a financial need.

"There has to be some fairness and equity attached to all of this."

I wonder would be we better off if all athletic financial aid was need-based?

I find this stance troubling. If the rest of our conference mates are going to take this stance as well it is one thing. If we are going to be an outlier it could and likely will cost us in recruiting battles. As awful as it sounds I'm considerably less concerned about a perception of fairness between athletes and non-athletes on campus as I am having the best possible athletic programs in Conference USA that are annually able to compete for national championships.

(08-17-2014 04:20 PM)ODU2K1 Wrote:  I find this stance troubling. If the rest of our conference mates are going to take this stance as well it is one thing. If we are going to be an outlier it could and likely will cost us in recruiting battles. As awful as it sounds I'm considerably less concerned about a perception of fairness between athletes and non-athletes on campus as I am having the best possible athletic programs in Conference USA that are annually able to compete for national championships.

(08-17-2014 04:20 PM)ODU2K1 Wrote:  I find this stance troubling. If the rest of our conference mates are going to take this stance as well it is one thing. If we are going to be an outlier it could and likely will cost us in recruiting battles. As awful as it sounds I'm considerably less concerned about a perception of fairness between athletes and non-athletes on campus as I am having the best possible athletic programs in Conference USA that are annually able to compete for national championships.

When I first read this I thouht the same thing. On second thought however, I don't believe it will be a problem. ODU has the largest athletic budget in CUSA, and I doubt Briderick would have taken such a stance without having a good teading on what his peer Presidents would do. Broderick is a very shrewd operator. If it appears to be a problem it's not as though ODU is locked into this stance.

The problem here is you can easily end up with situations where guys buried on the depth chart end up receiving more money than the athletes leading the team. That's not the point of this movement. An unintended consequence of this would be coaches favoring athletes from families who are more well-off and do not qualify for this need-based stipend. Does that make your team less competitive? I'm not sure, but it's not the message we want to be sending. At all.

We should sit tight for now until the P5 implements a working system, and then start working on molding that model to fit our capabilities. Jumping quickly in any specific boat right now could end up being a mistake. Let the giants weaken the NCAA before getting involved in the fight

Currently don't students/athletes even on scholarship receive the Pell Grants according to need.

Just give everyone the same amount. A full ride with housing and tuition, plus $2000 a semester. It should be the same if you are Notre Dame or Eastern Michigan or ODU.

(08-18-2014 10:25 AM)monarx Wrote:  Just give everyone the same amount. A full ride with housing and tuition, plus $2000 a semester. It should be the same if you are Notre Dame or Eastern Michigan or ODU.

Perhaps with a COLA attached. $2,000 goes a lot further in Manhattan, Kansas than it does Manhattan, N.Y.