The implementation of the new cost of attendance rule has had little effect on recruiting, and ADs on two panels at the ’15 IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum expect that to continue. While many of the ADs noted that having to spend the additional money did force the schools to take a harder look at their budgets, all agreed that the rule -- which provides student-athletes money on top of their scholarship to help pay the full costs of attending college, such as travel and other expenses -- was a good development. “Implementing this rule had no philosophical challenge -- we all value and want to support our students,” said UConn AD Warde Manuel. “We planned for it, and have had great support from our fans, donors and campus.” Alabama AD Bill Battle said that some of the school’s coaches spoke to him in the summer about the idea of other universities touting their cost of attendance amount as an advantage. “As a federal guideline, we don’t think that should be the case,” he said. Auburn AD Jay Jacobs noted that he has not spoken with a prospective student-athlete who has asked that question, adding that while his campus does have a high payment for cost of attendance, it does not pushing that fact aggressively. NC State AD Debbie Yow said that while she does not anticipate hearing that from a potential recruit either, that she would support legislation that would better “level the playing field” in terms of what was being provided to the students. A few of the ADs outlined their school’s cost of attendance, with numbers ranging from $2,000-6,000 at UCLA to $5,400 to out-of-state students at Alabama. Ultimately, Manuel said, if a potential recruit came to him to talk about the differences in cost of attendance values, one thing would be very clear to him. “Those who value education by if its $2,400 versus $6,000 for cost of attendance, if that’s what you’re focused on, please go to that institution,” he said.
USING IT WISELY: Some panelists noted that the introduction of cost-of-attendance money also prompted their schools to ensure that a higher level of financial literacy was being taught to student-athletes. Manuel said that UConn partnered with Morgan Stanley to help on education. UCLA AD Dan Guerrero said that it was important that the schools not only continue to provide meals and other benefits that student-athletes receive, but also to “get them ready for the real world.” Jacobs said that Auburn polled its student-athletes to see the top things that they were using the money for, which were buying food, saving it, paying for car-related costs, sending it back home, and buying clothes. “We felt that they were using it wisely, but we want to make sure we’re also providing them with knowledge on how to manage money in general going forward.” South Florida AD Mark Harlan said that the school engaged alumni to help mentor student-athletes with its program, and felt that overall it had done a good job increasing fiscal awareness. Yow quipped, “You know you’ve failed when you see them on their new hoverboards,” which drew a round of laughs from the crowd.
DEALING WITH HIGHER COSTS: Appalachian State AD Doug Gillin said the school decided to push back the implementation of the rule one year to “give us more time to work into it.” He noted that the school does not fully fund all sports, and that given its reliance on student funding, it would need to be “more careful going forward.” Troy Dannen, who recently left his AD post at Northern Iowa to assume the same position at Tulane, said it was a case of prioritization at UNI. “We couldn’t do it across the board, so we said where do you want selective excellence?” he said, noting that the school focused on its basketball and volleyball programs. USF planned for it well in advance, Harlan said, with all headcount sports participating student-athletes receiving money because of the new rule. While the school limited the distribution to equivalency sports in year one and that helped keep overall costs down, Harlan said there will be a full distribution in year two under the rule.
