Mississippi State AD Scott Stricklin believes that "all schools will offer the cost of attendance" to their student-athletes, and it will not "affect schools in the Power Five differently," according to Adam Minichino of the Columbus COMMERCIAL DISPATCH. Stricklin said that while the numbers "will be different throughout the nation ... all 210 athletic scholarships will be covered" at MSU. He added that while "there are more student-athletes on scholarship at the school than 210," those student-athletes "will receive a portion of the cost of attendance" in proportion with their scholarship. Stricklin: "It's not an insignificant expense. It will be over a million dollars in new expenses to our budget. That is pretty significant. There are not many things we do that add a million dollars to what we're spending on a year-to-year basis. It is still the right thing to do, but it is something we will have to accommodate in our budget. The good thing is the timing with our expected new revenue from the SEC Network really is beneficial, where we're not having to come up with this money." He added that MSU "doesn't have the resources compared to other schools in the SEC," but that the point "isn't to stack budgets against budgets." Instead, he said that the athletic department "has to keep investing its money wisely, to stay 'reasonable' with its expenses, and to make sure it isn't spending all of its money at once." Stricklin said it is "hard to imagine" sports like softball, women's soccer and volleyball could be revenue generators for the athletic department. He said that even MSU's baseball team "doesn't break even," despite advancing to the '13 College World Series championship (Columbus COMMERCIAL DISPATCH, 1/25).
FINDING THE MONEY: Tennessee AD Dave Hart said that the school "will be one of the programs participating" in paying student-athletes full cost of attendance. Hart: "We’re committed to that investment. That’s not an issue. We’ll find a way to do that. Again, will it be easy for anybody? No. People will be having conversations about how they’re going to make that model work financially" (Knoxville NEWS SENTINEL, 1/26). Georgia Tech AD Mike Bobinski said that providing stipends for the school’s roughly 225 scholarship athletes would cost "about $500,000." He added that he will "seek donor support to help fit it into the budget." In Atlanta, Ken Sugiura noted Georgia Tech’s "projected expenses for the current fiscal year" are $76.7M. Bobinski said, "While it’s challenging to deal with an additional expense, it’s something we’re going to do our very best to make happen. We’ll work it out one way or another" (AJC.com, 1/26). In Richmond, Mike Szvetitz noted Virginia Tech is "believed to be the first Big Five conference program to announce a full cost-of-attendance plan for its student-athletes." For VT, that represents "about $850,000-$900,000 per year" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 1/25). Meanwhile, Boston College AD Brad Bates said that the school "will adhere to the new legislation" despite "multiple concerns about the issue, forming the basis of its 'no' vote." Among those concerns: "adding expenses to athletic departments that already are struggling to generate profits; troublesome scenarios that could lead to eliminating non-revenue sports if the increased expenses become unmanageable; and the disparity between cost of attendance figures across campuses, an issue that could ultimately lead to recruiting advantages" (ESPN.com, 1/23).
SMALL PROGRAMS, BIG COSTS: Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner Tom Yeager on Friday said that among FCS programs, there is "no momentum to add cost-of-attendance stipends to scholarships." In Richmond, John O'Connor reported the stipends would be "expected annually to run between $2,500 and $4,000 per scholarship recipient." Yeager said that the cost of applying that to an FCS program, which can offer 63 scholarships, "would be highly challenging." He added that the CAA "has not yet held formal discussions on the cost-of-attendance issue," but that he "gets the sense from CAA presidents and athletics directors they are not interested in creating a new subset of student-athletes at their schools" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 1/24). Robert Morris AD Craig Coleman said, "Some people are projecting a massive nationwide reduction of sports." In Pittsburgh, Bob Cohn noted the school "was forced to cut seven sports" in '13. Coleman said that it is "too soon to reach any definitive conclusions because of myriad unresolved questions, many of them complicated." He "expressed frustration over a lack of information" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 1/25). In North Dakota, Tom Miller reported the Univ. of North Dakota is "preparing to cover" additional costs in men’s hockey, which is "fully funded at 18 scholarships." Providing these additional funds to men’s hockey, however, "presents challenges with Title IX." UND AD Brian Faison said, "Balance on the gender-equity side is part of the conversation, as well as what happens in the Big Sky and football is something we have to keep an eye on" (GRAND FORKS HERALD, 1/25).
