FORT COLLINS — Colorado State is going all in with cost of attendance.
The athletic department announced Wednesday it will give all scholarship athletes a full cost of attendance stipend based on their scholarship. It is a move CSU felt it needed to make to remain competitive, not just with schools in the Mountain West, but nationally.
“It’s really good, and it shows we’re making a commitment to being a top-level athletic department,” CSU volleyball coach Tom Hilbert said. “The athletes, there were a lot of things before that their scholarships didn’t cover. For many of them, it was difficult to pay a $400 fee for something. Hopefully this will be a step in the right direction.”
Last year, the NCAA granted autonomy to schools in the Power 5 conferences (SEC, Big 10, Pac 12, Big 12, ACC) to create some bylaws, one of which was giving athletes a cost of attendance stipend. Back in January, CSU senior associate athletic director for internal operations Christine Susemihl agreed a scholarship is not enough to cover the full cost of attending a university, saying there was a gap for student-athletes to cover. Scholarships cover the educational basics, food, housing, tuition and books. Any student on campus knows it costs more than that to attend school, and because of their schedules, student-athletes don’t often have time to find a part-time job.
Wednesday, new athletic director Joe Parker reiterated that point, calling the move a step forward.
“It’s a significant initiative and one that we as an institution spent a lot of time developing,” Parker said, noting much of the “heavy lifting” had taken place prior to his arrival in February. “Certainly with the response from other schools, it’s nice to know we can provide the same level of support to our students as other university are doing for theirs.”
The school estimates it will add $2,400 to an in-state athlete on a full-ride scholarship, $3,100 for out of state student-athletes. Those numbers are based on a federal equation, and the school said they may change if the formula does before the rule takes affect in August. Student-athletes on partial scholarships will receive that percentage. If an in-state athlete receives a 30 percent scholarship, they will then receive $720.
Naturally, the athlete’s reaction to the news is positive. While appreciative of his scholarship, offensive lineman Sam Carlson said there are costs student-athletes have to absorb outside of the scholarship, and the extra money will remove some of that burden.
“This helps incredibly. There’s things that the scholarship doesn’t cover and we need help with,” he said. “I just read yesterday they’re increasing the cost of parking permits, which the scholarship doesn’t cover. Those are going up to around $400, and that’s a huge cost out of our pocket we have to pay for.”
The school — with an athletic budget that falls just shy of $35 million per year, putting it below the Mountain West average ($37 million) — said it will cost them $654,000 annually.
Parker said the first couple of years will be paid from money picked up from the buyout of departed football coach Jim McElwain. After that, he said the school needs to find a way to fund it by other means.
“Eventually, we’re going to have to find a way to give more of ourselves a standing model, but the initial funding source has really been identified from the buyout Coach McElwain is providing to the university and the University of Florida is providing to us,” Parker said. “That’s been identified as funds for this year and in the near term.”
After that, Parker said there is an expectation on them to look at ticket sales and annual donations to create a model of growth and revenue.
The student-athletes in programs deemed head-count sports by the NCAA — football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and women’s tennis — are all on full-ride scholarships. The remainder of the sports can divide up their scholarship allotment to cover more athletes. According to the CSU athletic department, it currently issues 214.1 scholarships per year covering nearly 300 athletes in 16 sports.
When the ruling was made, Boise State immediately said it would meet the full amount, and Wyoming did the same over the weekend. Utah State, San Jose State and Fresno State have publicly made a full commitment. All of the figures are different — Boise State placed it’s at $5,100 — but all are based on the same formula.
As Hilbert noted, the move also keeps CSU competitive in recruiting. He noted since the original announcement was made by the Power 5, that was one of the first questions recruits were asking. At the time, he said he couldn’t give them a definitive answer, but now he can.
It is the latest move by the school to improve an athlete’s experience, which also opened the nutrition center earlier this academic year after NCAA regulations allowed schools to provide unlimited meals. All athletes on roster — scholarship or walk-on — can use that facility to supplement their caloric intake. It is open five days a week at two different times.
With both recent changes, the student-athletes on campus are feeling more supported than ever by the university.
“I definitely think they’re trying to show us they recognize we’re doing is hard, and they want to support us in what we’re trying to accomplish,” CSU volleyball player Acacia Andrews said. “That is trying to get a degree — a bachelor’s, a master’s — but also being able to have the resources to compete on the court too.”
Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard
