The notion that it’s not only right, but required, for universities to provide their athletes with enough funds to cover the full cost of attendance (COA) is both new and problematic.
One problem -- if not conceptually then competitively -- is that the COA is different at every school. Costs that administrators may choose to include run the gamut from off-campus expenses to cell phone fees, travel and other highly variable factors. As a result schools come up with sometimes widely different amounts to cover the full gamut of expenses a student may incur.
Interestingly, of the 65 schools in the five power conferences that achieved semi-autonomous governance last August, three of the four largest extra allowances are provided by schools in the football-fanatical SEC. Leading the way, according to figures reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education, are Tennessee (an extra $5,666 per nine-month school year) and Auburn ($5,586). Mississippi State is fourth ($5126).
Standing third in providing extra monetary benefits is Louisville, the ACC’s newest member, at $5,202. In fact, most of the ACC’s top six in COA happen to host its most dedicated football programs.
The ACC also boasts the school offering the smallest cost of attendance package – Boston College, which cast the sole vote against the COA measure. BC argued the new funding stream would create competitive advantages for some schools.
The numbers below, even confined to the 15 members of the ACC, would certainly seem to bear out the small private school’s concerns.
ALL THINGS NOT BEING EQUAL Variations in Cost of Attendance Among ACC Schools |
|||
---|---|---|---|
School | Total Cost | COA | Rank in ACC |
Boston College | $63,022 | $1,400 | 15 |
Clemson | $26,912 | $3,608 | 3 |
Duke | $63,999 | $2,206 | 11 |
Florida State | $21,684 | $3,884 | 2 |
Georgia Tech | $24,748 | $1,720 | 13 |
Louisville | $24,344 | $5,202 | 1 |
Miami | $61,942 | $2,780 | 5 |
North Carolina | $24,120 | $2,236 | 10 |
N.C. State | $22,368 | $2,430 | 8 |
Notre Dame | $64,775 | $1,950 | 12 |
Pittsburgh | $32,324 | $3,300 | 4 |
Syracuse | $61,242 | $1,632 | 14 |
Virginia | $27,092 | $2,564 | 7 |
Virginia Tech | $23,730 | $2,770 | 6 |
Wake Forest | $64,540 | $2,400 | 9 |