National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 9, 1998

Financial aid committee begins study of concerns about scholarship equity

The Division I Committee on Financial Aid has begun a review of difficulties that NCAA financial aid limitations might pose for institutions seeking compliance with Title IX.

The committee, meeting February 19-20 in San Diego, mapped out plans for studying the scholarship-equity issue that arose recently when the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR) expressed concern that institutions offering a full complement of scholarships in women's sports inadvertently may violate Title IX financial aid requirements.

In January, the Division I Management Council asked the Financial Aid Committee to review and make recommendations regarding the issue.

Last year, the National Women's Law Center filed complaints focusing on scholarship equity against 25 institutions.

Some of those institutions, responding to the complaints, claimed that the financial aid limitations of NCAA Bylaw 15.5 make it difficult to comply with Title IX requirements.

The concerns stem in part from the NCAA's distinction between head count and equivalency sports, and how scholarships in those sports are allocated among men and women.

Equivalency sports -- in which a single scholarship can be divided among multiple recipients -- include many sports that institutions recently have added in order to offer more opportunities for women.

The Financial Aid Committee reviewed materials relevant to the topic during the recent meeting, and agreed to hold a telephone conference soon to further review current financial aid data.

It also plans to solicit input soon from the Division I membership -- including institutions' concerns and suggestions about the issue -- through an article in The NCAA News.

The committee agreed to meet April 3-4 and again in early May to discuss the membership input and begin to consider options for achieving compliance with both NCAA rules and Title IX requirements.

Other highlights

Division I Financial Aid Committee
February 19-20/San Diego

  • Reviewed and expressed support for legislation recently given first approval by the Division I Management Council that will permit student-athletes to work and earn legitimate on- or off-campus income during semester or term time. The legislation would set a cap on earnings of $2,000 above the amount of a full grant in aid, and the income would not count as institutional aid, provided the student-athlete is not employed in the institution's athletics department or an athletics facility owned or operated by the athletics department.