Big Ten leaders support four-year, full cost of attendance scholarships
While keeping steadfast in their stance that college athletes should not be paid to play, the Big Ten presidents and chancellors issued a statement on Thursday voicing support to work “within the NCAA to provide greater academic security and success for our student-athletes.”
The statement, which is signed by either the president or chancellor at each Big Ten institution, outlined four reforms the conference supports:
• We must guarantee the four-year scholarships that we offer. If a student-athlete is no longer able to compete, for whatever reason, there should be zero impact on our commitment as universities to deliver an undergraduate education. We want our students to graduate.
• If a student-athlete leaves for a pro career before graduating, the guarantee of a scholarship remains firm. Whether a professional career materializes, and regardless of its length, we will honor a student’s scholarship when his or her playing days are over. Again, we want students to graduate.
• We must review our rules and provide improved, consistent medical insurance for student-athletes. We have an obligation to protect their health and well-being in return for the physical demands placed upon them.
• We must do whatever it takes to ensure that student-athlete scholarships cover the full cost of a college education, as defined by the federal government. That definition is intended to cover what it actually costs to attend college.
The statement also outlined, in the Big Ten’s view, the pitfalls of moving to a pay for play system, which has become a hot topic of conversation in recent months after a movement to unionize at Northwestern as well as the Ed O’Bannon vs. NCAA trial.
Across the Big Ten, and in every major athletic conference, football and men’s basketball are the principal revenue sports. That money supports the men and women competing in all other sports. No one is demanding paychecks for our gymnasts or wrestlers. And yet it is those athletes – in swimming, track, lacrosse, and other so-called Olympic sports – who will suffer the most under a pay-to-play system.
The revenue creates more opportunities for more students to attend college and all that provides, and to improve the athletic experiences through improved facilities, coaching, training and support.
If universities are mandated to instead use those dollars to pay football and basketball players, it will be at the expense of all other teams. We would be forced to eliminate or reduce those programs. Paying only some athletes will create inequities that are intolerable and potentially illegal in the face of Title IX.
You can read the full statement from the conference here.
Filed to: Big Ten Conference