Though financial aid deregulation is a complex process, it contains a positive payoff in relation to student-athlete welfare. There are three proposals (Nos. 02-81, 02-82 and 02-83-A) that if adopted would benefit student-athletes by allowing them the same limitations (for example, cost of attendance) as our non-student-athlete counterparts.

The Division I Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) urged the Management Council and Board of Directors to support these proposals during meetings held at the NCAA Convention in January. The SAAC believes these proposals provide greater opportunity for student-athletes to receive financial aid from various sources -- including both from the institution and from outside the institution -- without compromising competitive equity.

The financial aid package dovetails nicely with a reform movement that began during former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey's term and has gained momentum under new NCAA President Myles Brand. A core principle of that reform is to integrate intercollegiate athletics within higher education. Proposal No. 02-83-A fits that initiative in that it allows student-athletes to accept academic or non-athletics aid up to the cost of attendance even if they are receiving an athletics scholarship. Under current rules, student-athletes have had to refuse non-athletics aid because of individual and team limits, which sends the message that athletics are more important than academics. Allowing student-athletes to accept non-athletics aid rewards academic, as well as athletics, achievement.

The proposal also supports the notion of "students first" because it allows student-athletes the same access to non-athletics aid that the general student body enjoys. Proposal No. 02-83-A also offers student-athletes the opportunity to receive nonathletics aid that would help them afford the cost of attendance. Presently, athletics scholarships cover expenses up to a full-grant-in-aid but fall short of the cost of attendance. Because of this, student-athletes often have to find a way on their own to come up with everyday living expenses. Non-athletics aid could be one way to ease this burden.

Another important proposal -- No. 02-81 -- makes room in team limits for non-athletics aid by allowing only athletics aid to be counted toward team limits. Student-athletes, while already motivated to apply for academic scholarships, would be even more inclined to do so under this proposal because the non-athletics aid would not hurt their teammates. Under the current way equivalencies are calculated, a coach may tell a student-athlete that he or she may not accept a scholarship awarded by the institution due to the fact that it must be counted in team limits. Student-athletes should be able to apply for and accept scholarships and grants if athletics ability is not taken into consideration in the awarding of that aid. Further, through this process, student-athletes gain valuable real-life experience in resume building, interview skills, and establishing personal relationships for recommendation letters.

Proposal No. 02-81 would enable more athletics aid to go to student-athletes who otherwise would have been denied that opportunity under the current system. For example, a student who initially receives a full athletics scholarship might be able to receive a non-athletics institutional scholarship in lieu of a portion of the athletics scholarship. The portion of their athletics scholarship that they would have received can now be awarded to another athlete because the non-athletics aid does not count against the team limit.

Opponents of this proposal fear schools with more resources might invent scholarships in order to stockpile the more talented athletes. However, Proposal No. 02-81 sets specific guidelines that clarify what constitutes non-athletics aid.

The third proposal in the financial aid package is No. 02-82, which simplifies the definition of a counter. Basically, only student-athletes who receive athletically related institutional financial aid based on athletics ability and, for recruited student-athletes, outside aid for which the recipient must be an athlete to qualify for the award, would be counters.

This represents a significant change because it clarifies that, recruited or not, only student-athletes receiving institutional financial aid based on athletics become counters. This proposed change fits into the spirit of deregulation since all student-athletes, regardless of what sport they participate in, will be treated consistently. It provides a clear understanding of prospective student-athletes concerning their options for pursuing financial aid and clear direction for coaches recruiting those players. Accordingly, student-athletes will have a better understanding of where they fit in, so they can take the steps necessary to obtain as much aid as they can.

All three proposals enhance student-athlete opportunities for receiving and earning financial aid from various sources. Some people may feel student-athletes would be taking money away from the general student body. We do not believe that would be the case. Student-athletes would receive scholarships based solely on the criteria of the award, in much the same way as the general student body. These proposals do not guarantee student-athletes these scholarships; they simply provide student-athletes with the opportunity to accept rewards they rightfully earned through hard work. The Division I SAAC urges the membership to support Proposal Nos. 02-81, 02-82 and 02-83-A.

Amy Barr, a softball student-athlete at Eastern Illinois University, is a member of the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

(Note: The Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet has since supported Proposal No. 03-23 as an alternative to Proposal 02-81. Proposal No. 03-23, which the Division I SAAC has not yet reviewed, further specifies what may be exempted as non-athletics aid from an institution's equivalency computation.)