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.
Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Pacific-12 and Southeastern conferences programs MIGHT up scholarships in future.
The new rules take effect Aug. 1, 2015, but scholarship agreements for the 2015-16 school year can be executed prior to that date. …
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