The NCAA News - News and Features

August 18, 1997

Group to gather information on financial aid practices in III

The Division III Financial Aid and Awards Committee agreed at its first meeting to survey all Division III institutions to gather information on their practices of awarding financial aid.

On the basis of the information extracted from the survey, the committee hopes to determine whether Division III financial aid legislation, which includes awards of circumstance and nonathletics achievement awards, needs to be revised.

The committee, which met July 30-31 in Arlington, Virginia, is charged by the former Division III steering committee of the NCAA Council and the Division III Management Council to review the legislation as it is applied by the division's institutions and determine whether the legislation reflects current financial aid practices.

The survey will include general questions about the Division III philosophy as it relates to financial aid and will provide the committee with guidance as it begins its review of Division III financial aid rules and practices.

The committee anticipates distribution of the survey to all active and provisional division members in October and return of the completed form by the end of November.

The survey will be sent to the chief executive officer, athletics director, financial aid director and faculty athletics representative of each institution. Each institution will be asked to complete the survey from an institutional perspective.

Completed forms must be signed by the CEO and the athletics director. Results of the survey will be distributed at the 1998 NCAA Convention during a forum on financial aid. The committee discussed the format and specific topics to be addressed during the forum.

A second survey asking for specific details about financial aid practices at each institution will be distributed sometime next year.

The committee also discussed information that will be mailed to Division III institutions this fall, similar to a packet distributed in July 1996, concerning the division's financial aid legislation. The mailing is intended to make certain all Division III institutions are aware that awards of circumstance and nonathletics achievement awards must be approved by the Financial Aid and Awards Committee and the Division III Management Council.

All institutions, even ones that do not provide awards of circumstance and nonathletics achievement awards, will be required to return a form to the national office stating whether the institution makes such awards. The mailing is to verify that every Division III institution is aware of the legislation.

The next meeting of the committee will be September 29-30 in Kansas City, Missouri.