Cost-of-attendance stipends induced debate and hand-wringing when college athletics pooh-bahs considered and then approved them for Division I scholarship athletes in January. When the NCAA voted to allow schools to increase the value of scholarships by including stipends to cover day-to-day personal expenses, it was considered a landmark change in college athletics.
Football players who will receive a few thousand extra dollars with their scholarships when the fall semester begins, or at least those surveyed at the ACC Kickoff last week, aren’t quite counting down the clock to history and more green.
“I haven’t even thought about that at all,” Clemson defensive tackle D.J. Reader said. “People keep reminding me of it, but it’s just something that, you’ve been in college so long, you’re used to not having (money), you don’t even think about it anymore.”
“Have I thought about it?” Virginia Tech cornerback Kendall Fuller asked. “Not too much.”
Football players at the media event were hardly ready to leave the money on the table, but many also had only general ideas of how the extra money will benefit them.
“I’m a saver,” Syracuse linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “I like to save. At least in theory I do. Maybe some (sneakers). I don’t know. Maybe I’ll send Mom some flowers or something. I’ll figure something out.”
Louisville defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins, who also fell in the “haven’t thought about it” camp, surmised it would go to groceries, and that he might send some back home and help out teammates in need.
“For the most part, just normal everyday living,” said Rankins, from Covington.
Rankins will be able to help more than his ACC brethren. At $5,364, Louisville’s COA figure appears to be the highest in the ACC and one of the highest among the NCAA’s power conferences.
Pittsburgh defensive tackle Darryl Render was among the few who already had an appreciation for the $3,300 that he’ll receive over the academic year. He anticipated paying bills and eating better.
Playing football, “you can’t have a job,” he said. “It’s hard to not have that income. I was excited just because I knew I was going to be able to not struggle as much.”
Food was a common theme. Virginia wide receiver Canaan Severin, whose school will hand out stipends ranging from $3,180 to $4,450, based on travel considerations, pondered taking teammates (and himself) out to dinner.
“I eat a lot,” Severin said. “I love food. Just the more of it, the better.”
Given the rather nonchalant responses, it could be concluded that the differences in stipends from school to school may not have the impact on recruiting that has been a concern among coaches, particularly those with smaller stipends. (Stipends are set by each school, apart from the athletic department, using federal guidelines.) But it may particularly matter in the ACC, where six of the 15 league members (including Notre Dame) are private institutions. Schools with higher tuition costs sometimes minimize cost-of-attendance estimates in attempt to reduce sticker shock.
“I don’t think it’s that big (a factor),” Reader said. “Of course, for some people it might. Everybody has their own situations.”
Consider a football player weighing scholarship offers from Auburn ($5,586) and Tech ($2,000, among the lower among power-conference schools). Over the course of five years, the difference in stipends will add up to almost $18,000.
“It’ll come up (in recruiting),” Tech coach Paul Johnson said. “Trust me, when it get to signing time, it’s going to come up.”
Georgia and Alabama are among schools that have significantly increased their COA estimates in recent months. Prompted by the attention cast on personal-expense figures, Tech is looking into its own formula for personal expenses, though school officials noted that the process is not being conducted on behalf of the athletic department.
Each school calculates its number differently. For instance, travel costs are not included in Tech’s estimate. Tennessee, which last year drew 88 percent of its student body from inside state lines, estimates a transportation cost of $1,664.
How the stipends will be used — Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said his team will receive budgeting education at the start of the semester — and the degree to which they impact recruiting remains to be seen. Speaking earlier this month, Tech linebacker Tyler Marcordes may have reached the only universal conclusion as he heads into his senior season.
“That’s obviously going to be nice,” he said. “I wish I had it all my years.”
About the Author
