Arkansas State's athletic department is trying to keep up with the big boys.
Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said Friday that ASU has decided to join the list of schools providing athletes with a cost-of-attendance stipend. The so-called "Power Five" conferences -- the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific 12 and SEC -- passed legislation in January allowing schools to pay athletes beyond the full cost of a grant-in-aid scholarship and up to the full cost of attendance.
"It's a revolutionary change in NCAA legislation," Mohajir said. "We're full go."
It won't be cheap.
The figure differs for each school and is set by that school's financial aid office, with the money intended to go toward transportation, laundry and other miscellaneous expenses athletes incur.
Mohajir said ASU's full cost of attendance figure is $4,500 and that the school will contribute $4,000 to each full scholarship athlete in "head-count" sports such as football, men's and women's basketball, volleyball and tennis.
For equivalency sports -- baseball, bowling, men's and women's golf, women's soccer and men's and women's track -- the sum will be spread out at the discretion of that sport's coach. For instance, the baseball team, which is allotted 11.7 scholarships, will get $4,000 for each of those scholarships and that money will be divided among the team.
The full annual commitment will be $819,200 toward ASU's 204.8 scholarships, Mohajir said. The payments will be made three times each semester, and the expense will be added into ASU's annual budget, which broke $20 million for the first time this year.
"We knew this was an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves and to give ourselves an advantage," Mohajir said. "It's all part of the mix to be one of the best teams in the Group of Five and to compete with any team in the [Power] Five."
Many administrators and coaches believe cost of attendance will be crucial in future recruiting battles. Among ASU's Sun Belt Conference opponents, only Louisiana-Lafayette has publicly stated that it plans to pay the full cost of attendance to all sports. The Advertiser in Lafayette reported that decision will cost the school more than $1.2 million annually.
UALR Athletic Director Chasse Conque said earlier this month that UALR will pay the full cost of attendance in men's and women's basketball, a commitment to 28 scholarships that will cost about $125,000. Sun Belt member Texas State has said it likely won't participate, according to the San Marcos (Texas) Daily Record, and New Mexico State, a football-only member of the Sun Belt, said it won't participate until next year, the Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News reported.
Among the other schools in the "Group of Five" conferences -- the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mountain West, Mid-American, and Sun Belt -- ASU is in a class with Boise State, Marshall and East Carolina among others as schools that have committed to the extra benefit.
Some coaches have expressed concern regarding the cost-of-attendance figure, which will differ even among schools in the same state. Alabama's Nick Saban said at the SEC's meetings this past week that the unset figure could "almost promote fraud."
Mohajir said he isn't concerned with the differentiating figures, even if Louisiana-Lafayette can pay $5,888 as reported by The Advertiser.
"It's an unintended consequence that some have an advantage over others," Mohajir said. "We're doing [$4,000] for the entire athletic department, and it's a good number."
Sports on 05/30/2015