The NCAA News - News and Features

April 28, 1997

Panel will not seek changes in II financial aid

The NCAA Division II Management Council Transition Team will not seek sponsorship at the 1998 Convention of proposed changes in Division II financial aid that recently were recommended by a project team.

The transition team decided unanimously during its April 16 meeting in Tucson that it will not recommend that the NCAA Division II Presidents Council Transition Team sponsor proposals to enact partial need-based aid in Division II athletics and/or decrease financial aid equivalency limits in selected sports.

The NCAA Division II Financial Aid Project Team first presented the proposals in late March to the Presidents Council Transition Team, which asked the Management Council to review the proposals (see the April 7 issue of The NCAA News).

The Presidents Council Transition Team indicated before passing along the project team's report to the Management Council that it had several questions about the proposals. It also expressed concern about the results of surveys conducted by the project team that indicated no clear-cut support among Division II members for either a partial need-based aid model or reductions in equivalency limits.

The project team acknowledged those survey findings when it presented the recommendations to the Presidents Council, but said it believed it was obligated to put forth the best financial aid model it could for consideration by the Division II Presidents Council and Management Council.

The project team recommended a partial need-based aid model that would have made a full athletics scholarship equivalent to the value of tuition, fees and books only; additional aid would have been awarded based on a student-athlete's need.

It also recommended reductions in equivalency limits in five sports as an alternative to enacting partial need-based aid.

Approximately half of the Division II schools responding to a January survey indicated that they do not support adoption of a need-based aid model. There also was only limited support for changes in equivalency limits. About 75 percent of Division II schools responded to the survey.

The Management Council Transition Team expressed some of the same concerns and reservations as the Presidents Council in deciding not to recommend sponsorship of the proposals.

The Management Council Transition Team also determined that the project team has fulfilled the charge set forth in 1996 Convention Proposal No. 29, a resolution that directed a study and evaluation of Division II financial aid.

It noted that the project team conducted the first comprehensive review of Division II-specific financial aid issues by an NCAA panel consisting exclusively of Division II representatives.

It also noted that the group presented a progress report (and conducted an open forum) at the 1997 Convention, as required by Proposal No. 29. It also conducted two surveys, including the January survey, which was conducted after the membership forum at the 1997 Convention.

Even if the Presidents Council Transition Team does not sponsor a financial aid proposal at the 1998 Convention, Division II conferences or institutions can sponsor such a proposal.

The deadline for Division II membership proposals for the Convention is July 15. Under new sponsorship requirements for proposed legislation in Division II, such a proposal must be sponsored by 15 Division II schools or two Division II conferences.

Other financial aid actions

The Division II Management Council Transition Team also considered two other recommendations from the Division II Financial Aid Project Team. It referred both recommendations to the new Division II Legislation Committee for further review.

The project team recommended: