Settlement aids mere minority of athletes

In 2006, a class-action suit was filed against the NCAA on behalf of former football players Jason White of Stanford and Brian Polak of UCLA.

They argued that restricting a scholarship to the cost of tuition, books, housing and meals was an unlawful restraint of trade.

The NCAA settled the case in 2008 and agreed to make a total of $218 million available to Division I institutions through the 2012-13 school year for athletes who can demonstrate a financial and/or academic need.

NCAA President Mark Emmert said there is legitimate concern that there are unfounded costs associated with attending college and that some student-athletes find themselves in a place where they need resources.

“To address those kinds of issues, not long ago, the NCAA created a couple of student funds that this year provided $54 million ... so almost every athletic department in the country in Division I now has a pool of resources that they can use to support students who have those particular kinds of needs,” Emmert told “Frontline” in a February interview.

Most of the money is used for educational purposes with some going for needs such as clothing, according to the NCAA.

Emmert said these additional funding vehicles address many of the cost-of-attendance issues.

“Well, a full grant-in-aid from an institution for an NCAA athletic scholarship covers tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board costs,” Emmert said in the interview. “That’s normally what most anyone would describe as a full-ride scholarship. ... Most of us who went to college wouldn’t consider that a particular parsimonious arrangement.

“On the other hand, when you add in the opportunity to also gain access to emergency funds that the NCAA provides for a variety of other contingent costs that a student might have, we feel pretty good about the arrangements that are available to our student-athletes.”

National College Players Association President Ramogi Huma said about 85 percent of Division I student-athletes don’t qualify for the aid, and in the Jason White settlement it was agreed that the NCAA would not have to reveal those statistics.

Emmert said the NCAA was studying the issue.

This story was originally published August 16, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Settlement aids mere minority of athletes."