The new collegiate athletics year is upon us, with schools vying to become the latest NCAA national champions in Divisions I, II and III. Sadly, the arms race to try and win future national championships also will be on, with some schools scheming to figure out how they can use their financial aid to outbid the competition for the prized athletics recruits -- whether they're within NCAA rules or not.

We read with numbing regularity about violations of NCAA recruiting rules, and penalties assessed against Division I schools. Many continue to believe they must still cheat to win, in spite of being legally able to give athletics scholarships. The case differs among Division III schools, which make up the largest category in the NCAA and allegedly compete with "nonscholarship players."

But far less publicity about recruiting violations on the supposedly "pure" Division III level doesn't mean they don't exist. As a president at one of those schools, I have heard fellow presidents talk about financial aid practices at this level as "our dirty little secret." I also have heard Division III football coaches say, "Show me a national championship team and I'll show you a program in violation."

One must, therefore, applaud the NCAA-sponsored financial aid pilot audit of 20 Division III schools this summer. Favorable results from that pilot may produce legislation for a division-wide audit at the 2002 NCAA Convention in January.

But while this is a step toward "cleaning up" the dirty financial aid practices of some of the athletics elite, it doesn't go far enough. Audited institutions still will be obligated to note any irregularities and contact the NCAA to report them -- in effect policing themselves. The audit also won't be sport-specific, and will compare just an institution's financial aid packages for student-athletes to those of its overall student body. Some Division III Management Council members expressed their concern over the comparison groups, with some suggesting it should compare the financial aid packages of student-athletes to those of non-student-athletes to gain a more accurate result.

I have a better solution. If every team that qualified for an NCAA tournament was required to submit the financial aid packages on all its players to NCAA officials before postseason competition, programs would be less likely to bend the rules.

Full financial aid disclosure at those times would have the same effect as knowing your players were going to be drug tested before NCAA national championship events. Just like no student-athlete would want to be found guilty of using an illegal substance and risk being suspended and harming his or her team during the national championship events, no president would want to permit the public humiliation of his or her institution through disclosure of illegal recruiting practices, either.

Under this proposal, the fear of being found guilty of cheating would force all schools to comply and play by the same rules. Fewer teams and schools would no doubt have to be examined each year, meaning fewer NCAA staff hours would be involved. And most importantly, it would work.

Temptation too high

We must face the fact that the better the program, the more likely we are to see violations. And clearly, it is the better programs that focus on the postseason, which is why I propose full aid disclosure at those times.

I know personally that enrollments and donations at smaller colleges and universities are perhaps even more critical to these institutions than to the big schools -- with the margin of managerial error being even smaller. Their success is often tied to public relations and marketing success. Institutional pride is as often a consequence of athletics achievement as it is the result of academic quality. That makes the temptation to "win at all costs" too high, even at the "nonscholarship" level. Enacting this proposal would allow the NCAA to take a "fast track" to ensure every school can finally compete on a level playing field to produce a "true" national champion.

David Pollick is the president of Lebanon Valley College and the former president of the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference.