Big Ten to guarantee scholarships to athletes

Scholarships to be guaranteed to Big Ten athletes

As the idea of paying players swirls around collegiate institutions across the country, the Big Ten Conference made headlines of its own on Wednesday. While players still won’t be paid directly, they now have the solace of knowing that their athletic scholarships will be guaranteed.

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With the guaranteeing of scholarships, the Big Ten announced on Wednesday that athletes will be allowed to not only keep their scholarships throughout their educational tenure, but that they will be allowed to return to finish their education for a “bona fide” reason.

The Big Ten gave a statement in the form of a press release saying:

"[An athlete’s] scholarship will neither be reduced nor cancelled provided he or she remains a member in good standing with the community, the university and the athletics department.If a student-athlete’s pursuit of an undergraduate degree is interrupted for a bona fide reason, that student-athlete may return to the institution at any time to complete his or her degree with the assistance of an athletic scholarship."

With the statements included, it appears as though students that leave to professionally compete in a sport, especially the major leagues, will have their scholarships honored if they choose to come back and complete their degree.

The Big Ten has repositioned themselves with their new scholarship regulations. On the heels of the new NCAA governance structure, power five conferences are able to have more flexibility to set their own rule changes.

The move makes the Big Ten look much more appealing than a school that may not guarantee its scholarship t a student athlete, however, it seems odd that the conference would pay for an athlete that has decide to go play professionally. It would seem to reason that the money could be allocated to students more in need of it.

At any rate, this is a big move for the Big Ten.

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