The joke that is "Cost of Attendance" became even more ludicrous today

[JHB4UK]

For those who have been paying attention & following this boondoggle, news this afternoon will come as absolute zero surprise. COA is a moronic decision allowing colleges all by themselves with zero oversight or approval determine what extra cash they can pay athletes. Unsurprisingly when amounts to be paid out were released it was renegade win-at-all-cost programs who were going to be paying out the most....Auburn, Tennessee, Louisville. Over $5000 a year, when others were typically $2000. The cost of living in Auburn is 3X greater than in Southern California, who knew?

Did you think other programs were going to sit back & be outbid for future 5* football recruits? That they would allow themselves to be priced out of the market. think again!

Today, Alabama announced they have gone back and done some recalculating on their COA. Must have forgotten to carry a 1, or multiply by 2 somewhere in their original calculation! Because now, somehow, their total has DOUBLED. Oh, and another coincidence, it now is higher than Auburn's. Amazing, what are the odds?

Who's gonna be next to pass Alabama, to "recalculate", to discover new costs they missed the 1st time? How soon until the entire SEC's average COA is $10,000/year?

What a freaking circus, well done NCAA, these results are entirely predictable and yet you did not figure it would happen.

 

[The Public Enemy]

It's all legal...the $$$ in College Athletics made it this way especially when schools in the P5 are bringing in $25 to $32 Million per school per year.

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

I say that UK just needs to put some more dots and commas in and then lick the pencil and carry a few zeros and up the amount to 20k.

 

[WildCard]

IMO, this (i.e., COA stipends) is a very slippery slope and perhaps the most moronic NCAA decision yet. Of course, it was a "decision" forced by the actions of the P5 schools. Perhaps well intended but not well thought out. FWIW, I think(?) the biggest disparity comes from "trips home" but, Hell, who really knows.

Peace

 

[The Public Enemy]

IMO, this (i.e., COA stipends) is a very slippery slope and perhaps the most moronic NCAA decision yet. Of course, it was a "decision" forced by the actions of the P5 schools. Perhaps well intended but not well thought out. FWIW, I think(?) the biggest disparity comes from "trips home" but, Hell, who really knows.

Peace

They felt guilty for the simple reason the Colleges are making $$$ hand over fist on either Free or Cheap Labor...yes a College Education is Fantastic but the Revenue now being made is insane

 

[Comebakatz3]

The players should be paid something for their time and for their efforts. I don't think it should be a salary, but the COA idea is probably about right. I am one that likes the idea of amateur athletics and thinks that these guys that end up going pro get something extremely valuable from college and that is exposure. They become household names because of the exposure that college football gives them and they couldn't get that anywhere else. Still, they need compensated, but I think it is ridiculous to allow the colleges to just give them whatever the college sees fit. That is just going to open a breeding ground to outbid one another for players. At that point you might as well go ahead and just let them all be free agents that you try to buy.

 

[DACats86]

For those who have been paying attention & following this boondoggle, news this afternoon will come as absolute zero surprise. COA is a moronic decision allowing colleges all by themselves with zero oversight or approval determine what extra cash they can pay athletes. Unsurprisingly when amounts to be paid out were released it was renegade win-at-all-cost programs who were going to be paying out the most....Auburn, Tennessee, Louisville. Over $5000 a year, when others were typically $2000. The cost of living in Auburn is 3X greater than in Southern California, who knew?

Did you think other programs were going to sit back & be outbid for future 5* football recruits? That they would allow themselves to be priced out of the market. think again!

Today, Alabama announced they have gone back and done some recalculating on their COA. Must have forgotten to carry a 1, or multiply by 2 somewhere in their original calculation! Because now, somehow, their total has DOUBLED. Oh, and another coincidence, it now is higher than Auburn's. Amazing, what are the odds?

Who's gonna be next to pass Alabama, to "recalculate", to discover new costs they missed the 1st time? How soon until the entire SEC's average COA is $10,000/year?

What a freaking circus, well done NCAA, these results are entirely predictable and yet you did not figure it would happen.

Ray Charles, RIP, could see where this was headed. Absolutely moronic that there isn't a cap on this or a single formula that must be used by all schools. No doubt that Auburn will sharpen their pencils once again.

 

[jauk11]

It's all legal...the $$$ in College Athletics made it this way especially when schools in the P5 are bringing in $25 to $32 Million per school per year.

What does it cost to live in Louisville compared to Lexington, about twice as much? Amazing, and of course jurich is willing to exploit this gigantic can of worms (what I called it when it first came out) to the fullest, while it remains to be seen if mitch and UK have really absorbed the lesson of the millions of dollars football lost from his penny pinching for the football program which lasted for over a decade------and, coincidentally, ended with the fan strike. I want to again thank all those real fans that sacrificed great seats in the family for generations for the good of the program.

Yes, it is legal to buy players in this system, and no doubt jurich will spend every cent he can get from the students at UL that just want an education to advance his out of control athletic ambitions, this is a far better investment than the 400% raise he gave his new football coach that no other reputable University would even hire. Of course I haven't heard a lot about UL having the best medical school (or any others, really) in the state since I was a kid-----and that was a LONG time ago.

But I have read tons about their out of control athletic department, just win baby, right TPE?

.

 

[jauk11]

But really, the blame for this fiasco goes directly to the incompetent joke of an NCAA, a child could have seen this coming, and they are the ones that have to step in and correct this stupidity.

 

[JHB4UK]

Why have a cap anymore on the number of football scholarships? If good honest folks at Auburn or Louisville calculate that they really need 102 to operate a football program safely, why not let them?

Why limit the number of full time position coaches in college football anymore? If Nick Saban thinks he needs a staff of 24, and if his school has the money to pay them, why shouldn't it be allowed? '

Why limit practices anymore? Or games played? Hell if someone can justify with their own in-house calculations that more is better, then have at it, enjoy!!

Limits have been put in place for every aspect of college athletics, limits which were uniform across the entire sport for everyone to follow. Why these morons thought there would not be a reckless arms race with COA I'll never ever know.

 

[kb22stang]

My question is why isn't UK entering the race.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

For those who have been paying attention & following this boondoggle, news this afternoon will come as absolute zero surprise. COA is a moronic decision allowing colleges all by themselves with zero oversight or approval determine what extra cash they can pay athletes. Unsurprisingly when amounts to be paid out were released it was renegade win-at-all-cost programs who were going to be paying out the most....Auburn, Tennessee, Louisville. Over $5000 a year, when others were typically $2000. The cost of living in Auburn is 3X greater than in Southern California, who knew?

Did you think other programs were going to sit back & be outbid for future 5* football recruits? That they would allow themselves to be priced out of the market. think again!

Today, Alabama announced they have gone back and done some recalculating on their COA. Must have forgotten to carry a 1, or multiply by 2 somewhere in their original calculation! Because now, somehow, their total has DOUBLED. Oh, and another coincidence, it now is higher than Auburn's. Amazing, what are the odds?

Who's gonna be next to pass Alabama, to "recalculate", to discover new costs they missed the 1st time? How soon until the entire SEC's average COA is $10,000/year?

What a freaking circus, well done NCAA, these results are entirely predictable and yet you did not figure it would happen.

Did you really think Bama was going to let AU outbid them? It cost more for AU kids to travel less than 100 miles than it does for kids to travel cross country, thats what they used to get their COA so high. Charter flights of 20 min are pretty expensive when they are flying into small country airstrips.

 

[WildCard]

But really, the blame for this fiasco goes directly to the incompetent joke of an NCAA, a child could have seen this coming, and they are the ones that have to step in and correct this stupidity.

Ummm, no. Blame goes to a number (some but not all) of the schools we refer to as the P5. The "big" (read that as "monied") schools have long sought more rules autonomy from "less monied" institutions who represented the majority of the votes in such matters. The bigs were in a position to literally pull out of the NCAA and establish their own governing body so the NCAA caved to their wishes. Expect more changes such as increased scholarships.

Not that I am a big fan of the way the NCAA does business, IMO, they missed their last chance to reel in big football by not establishing a playoff system in recent years. It would have been a fairly simple matter to have cities and venues "bid" for 3 playoff games just as the current NC game is done. These games would be played outside of the existing bowl structure. They then pick 4 teams for the playoff, the winner being crowned "NCAA Champion". If tOSU insisted on playing in the Rose Bowl and AL in the Sugar Bowl, so be it but no NC for you. I think the cachet of a 'true" NCAA national championship (plus the big money that it would produce) would be enough for the NCAA to reclaim some power over the big football schools. Anybody not in playoffs could play in bowls and this would create some great bowl opportunities for teams other than the usual suspects. JMO.

Peace

 

[WildCard]

Did you really think Bama was going to let AU outbid them? It cost more for AU kids to travel less than 100 miles than it does for kids to travel cross country, thats what they used to get their COA so high. Charter flights of 20 min are pretty expensive when they are flying into small country airstrips.

Ummmm, what does a charter flight have to do with an individual's true "cost of attendance"? If Joe Jockstrap wants to go home for Christmas he ain't going home on a school chartered flight. He goes home by way of any normal public conveyance.

Peace

 

[fuzz77]

I'm usually not one to buy into conspiracy theories but the authors of the COA rule were either really dumb or really smart.
Since COA is calculated in the Admissions Office and is a staple that is used for all students applying for financial aide either the rule's author was

• really dumb and thought that schools wanting their schools to appear as affordable to attract students and not contribute to heaping more student loan debt on students (because higher COA results in higher loan amounts available) wouldn't be influenced by athletic departments and their competition for recruits.....or,
• really smart and knew what would happen and see this as a way of draining the athletic department budgets by forcing them to get into a COA arms race.

There have been several attempts to alter the rules to limit COA $$$ and/or set parameters or a formula to make it transparent and consistent. So far all measures have been defeated.

 

[Tskware]

<- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - this poster getting very close to saying "forget it". "College" football is pretty much a joke among the Power 5 conferences, it is amateur in name only. Hell, lets just become the D League affiliate for the Bengals and Browns and call it a day.

 

[The Public Enemy]

But really, the blame for this fiasco goes directly to the incompetent joke of an NCAA, a child could have seen this coming, and they are the ones that have to step in and correct this stupidity.

The NCAA Is just doing what Bob Bowlsby, Larry Scott, John Swofford, Mike Slive/Greg Sankey and especially Jim Delany wanted.

It is a Arms Race...you can choose to participate or not the choice is the particular school in the ACC, SEC, B1G, Pac 12 and Big XII.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Did you really think Bama was going to let AU outbid them? It cost more for AU kids to travel less than 100 miles than it does for kids to travel cross country, thats what they used to get their COA so high. Charter flights of 20 min are pretty expensive when they are flying into small country airstrips.

Well put Grumpy

 

[fuzz77]

Here is a pretty good article on the subject.

 

[footballfanatic77]

For those who have been paying attention & following this boondoggle, news this afternoon will come as absolute zero surprise. COA is a moronic decision allowing colleges all by themselves with zero oversight or approval determine what extra cash they can pay athletes. Unsurprisingly when amounts to be paid out were released it was renegade win-at-all-cost programs who were going to be paying out the most....Auburn, Tennessee, Louisville. Over $5000 a year, when others were typically $2000. The cost of living in Auburn is 3X greater than in Southern California, who knew?

Did you think other programs were going to sit back & be outbid for future 5* football recruits? That they would allow themselves to be priced out of the market. think again!

Today, Alabama announced they have gone back and done some recalculating on their COA. Must have forgotten to carry a 1, or multiply by 2 somewhere in their original calculation! Because now, somehow, their total has DOUBLED. Oh, and another coincidence, it now is higher than Auburn's. Amazing, what are the odds?

Who's gonna be next to pass Alabama, to "recalculate", to discover new costs they missed the 1st time? How soon until the entire SEC's average COA is $10,000/year?

What a freaking circus, well done NCAA, these results are entirely predictable and yet you did not figure it would happen.

You really don't understand how this works do you? Cost of attendance isn't set by athletic departments. It's set by schools financial aid offices along strict guidelines set by the federal government. Now, some schools don't calculate their cost of attendance to cover everything like a new computer (which is allowed) or transportation (which is also allowed) and other things of that nature. That's where the discrepancy comes in. Alabama has clearly decided to go back and cover everything they can. My guess is most schools will follow.

 

[DACats86]

You really don't understand how this works do you? Cost of attendance isn't set by athletic departments. It's set by schools financial aid offices along strict guidelines set by the federal government. Now, some schools don't calculate their cost of attendance to cover everything like a new computer (which is allowed) or transportation (which is also allowed) and other things of that nature. That's where the discrepancy comes in. Alabama has clearly decided to go back and cover everything they can. My guess is most schools will follow.

Your last four sentences totally contradict your first three.

 

[jauk11]

Ummmm, what does a charter flight have to do with an individual's true "cost of attendance"? If Joe Jockstrap wants to go home for Christmas he ain't going home on a school chartered flight. He goes home by way of any normal public conveyance.

Peace

Probably not, but it sounds like some schools are saying they do. The ones that cheat anyway, maybe you can check up on how UL's players claim they commute. I will never forget my boss yelling for me to come in to his office when he got my travel expenses after my first paid business trip, after wanting to know if I was trying to get them put in jail he had me change my hamburger and coke at lunch to the maximum allowed, etc. I lived on a hamburger and milk shake for lunch at a little grill one semester at UK, I was skin and bones at the end of the semester but I survived. And then, Oregon did charter flights for some of their prospects (and limos) for their visits that one big recruiting weekend back in 05 or so. The NCAA changed some of their rules because of that weekend, maybe they will wake up again, at least temporarily.

And it doesn't sound like powers like Bama wanted this to become a bidding war to start with, they are just meeting the challenge. And really, the total cost of doubling the stipend isn't that much compared to giving a football coach that most schools wouldn't let on campus a 400% raise.

 

[footballfanatic77]

My point is schools can't just concoct any number they want. Typically schools have tried to limit cost of attendance because it looks better for prospective students. Schools have strict guidelines they must follow so they can't just give 10,000 with no reason, but they get some leeway in what they choose to cover. For example, if It costs 500/mo for rent in Auburn, and they value meals at 500 for the semester, and include the cost of transportation for allowable mileage at current gas prices plus the cost of a new computer and clothing then you can see how that number escalates quickly. Some schools have been undervaluing the cost of attendance for years in order to make the school look like a better value.

 

[jauk11]

You really don't understand how this works do you? Cost of attendance isn't set by athletic departments. It's set by schools financial aid offices along strict guidelines set by the federal government. Now, some schools don't calculate their cost of attendance to cover everything like a new computer (which is allowed) or transportation (which is also allowed) and other things of that nature. That's where the discrepancy comes in. Alabama has clearly decided to go back and cover everything they can. My guess is most schools will follow.

Just curious, which team do you really cheer for? And of course the Universities shouldn't care too much, they will just pass the cost on to the "football fanatics", and of course it is a minimal cost compared to what they pay their coaches.

The point is that this shouldn't be just another recruiting tool that some schools use to buy their players-------well, to increase their present salary legally in a lot of cases. It is inconvenient to have to borrow $5,000 for those fifty $100 handshakes in a lot of cases, even embarrassing at times.

 

[footballfanatic77]

Just curious, which team do you really cheer for? And of course the Universities shouldn't care too much, they will just pass the cost on to the "football fanatics", and of course it is a minimal cost compared to what they pay their coaches.

The point is that this shouldn't be just another recruiting tool that some schools use to buy their players-------well, to increase their present salary legally in a lot of cases. It is inconvenient to have to borrow $5,000 for those fifty $100 handshakes in a lot of cases, even embarrassing at times.

See the UT thread. I definitely think there is some slight possibilities that it will be used to one teams advantage over another. I don't think it's significant and until I see evidence to the contrary I'll maintain that position. I think to assume otherwise one would have to be willing to buy into a lot of conspiracy theories and frankly I've never been much of one to buy into those.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

Ummmm, what does a charter flight have to do with an individual's true "cost of attendance"? If Joe Jockstrap wants to go home for Christmas he ain't going home on a school chartered flight. He goes home by way of any normal public conveyance.

Peace

The cost of the kid getting back to his hometown is one of the things figured in to determine COA. Of course he isn't going to fly home when its 50 miles away, but AU has no problems with saying the kid is flying into Atlanta and traveling west back to Columbus, so they can use the cost of flying home in the equation for determining their COA. You really don't know much about how Auburn operates do you?

 

[jauk11]

The cost of the kid getting back to his hometown is one of the things figured in to determine COA. Of course he isn't going to fly home when its 50 miles away, but AU has no problems with saying the kid is flying into Atlanta and traveling west back to Columbus, so they can use the cost of flying home in the equation for determining their COA. You really don't know much about how Auburn operates do you?

Geez, he should know all about it, he has been a big fan of UL ever since they got serious about playing football, and he is a pretty intelligent poster. He could probably write a book about what is going on over there, but for sure will never do it. Hopefully UK will be competing at a high level soon,since they have finally seemed to get serious about football, some really encouraging news on football recruiting lately, hope we avoid the big RB disappointment------and it looks like this staff is doing just fine in recovering from that, thank you..

 

[jnewc2]

What does it cost to live in Louisville compared to Lexington, about twice as much? Amazing, and of course jurich is willing to exploit this gigantic can of worms (what I called it when it first came out) to the fullest, while it remains to be seen if mitch and UK have really absorbed the lesson of the millions of dollars football lost from his penny pinching for the football program which lasted for over a decade------and, coincidentally, ended with the fan strike. I want to again thank all those real fans that sacrificed great seats in the family for generations for the good of the program.

Yes, it is legal to buy players in this system, and no doubt jurich will spend every cent he can get from the students at UL that just want an education to advance his out of control athletic ambitions, this is a far better investment than the 400% raise he gave his new football coach that no other reputable University would even hire. Of course I haven't heard a lot about UL having the best medical school (or any others, really) in the state since I was a kid-----and that was a LONG time ago.

But I have read tons about their out of control athletic department, just win baby, right TPE?

.

Not sure about this, but I do know that SEC programs will do anything short of killing someone in order to win football games...and we better be doing the same if we want to keep up with the Jones. If this is the latest ploy to get recruits and win games, etc, I hope we're right there with the rest of the SEC doing whatever we can to get an edge. It's no coincidence that the winningest schools are almost always the dirtiest. If you're not breaking (or tip-toeing the edge of breaking) a few rules here and there in order to win, then you're not trying.

 

[C1180]

This is going to be a joke as long as the schools are allowed to be the ones that figures their own COA. The NCAA must figure a way to regulate this or it is going to quickly spiral out of control. Hey that is what happens when you allow the inmates to run the asylum or let the fox guard the hen house.

 

[The Public Enemy]

When it comes to College Football the NCAA in reality has very little Power...the Real Power Brokers are the 5 P5 Commissioners..the ACC John Swofford, Pac 12 Larry Scott, Big XII Bob Bowlsby and the 2 Mega Commissioners in the SEC Greg Sankey and the B1G Jim Delany

 

[Deeeefense]

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics publishes cost of living (COLA) indexes for every part of the country. It would be vary easy for the NCAA to simply come up with a base figure and then allow it to be escalated based on the BLS indexes. Of course that would make sense.

 

[JHB4UK]

A person has to be either incredibly naive or stupid to think athletics are powerless in COA cals. I'm a CPA, numbers can be juggled to say whatever the hell you want. Especially when instructed to do so by crooked CEOs or organizations not concerned with following the rules.

But go ahead son, pretend these numbers are calculated by egghead professors while ADs and coaches sit by as helpless bystanders. Your life surrounded by unicorns and rainbows must be interesting.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

It's all legal...the $$$ in College Athletics made it this way especially when schools in the P5 are bringing in $25 to $32 Million per school per year.

Seriously, could this post be more inane?

 

[Caveman Catfan]

No one, anywhere, believes it costs that much more to live in Louisville than it does to live in Lexington. I suspect UK played straight with the numbers and UL fudged. UL was the third most in the country. Yep, that makes sense.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

http://www.kentucky.com/2015/04/18/3807694/new-cost-of-attendance-payments.html

As a reminder. Hopefully, UK recalculates or the NCAA presidents find an equitable solution.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Seriously, could this post be more inane?

How.....the Money being generated now is off the scale and it is going to get even larger

 

[The Public Enemy]

No one, anywhere, believes it costs that much more to live in Louisville than it does to live in Lexington. I suspect UK played straight with the numbers and UL fudged. UL was the third most in the country. Yep, that makes sense.

And it is still legal in regards to the NCAA

 

[Poetax]

I have never seen a problem go away by giving more money to the players. Yes, I think the players deserve to be able to live and go out on a date but the problem that is coming is now HOW do you know where other money is coming from with the kids getting over $5000 per year. Agents, business men, bad coaches, will be able to do more $100 handshakes then ever in the history of the ncaa. Say what you want but give a little, and some just want more and they won't care where it comes from, this will become a real headache in the future for the good old ncaa.

 

[jauk11]

I have never seen a problem go away by giving more money to the players. Yes, I think the players deserve to be able to live and go out on a date but the problem that is coming is now HOW do you know where other money is coming from with the kids getting over $5000 per year. Agents, business men, bad coaches, will be able to do more $100 handshakes then ever in the history of the ncaa. Say what you want but give a little, and some just want more and they won't care where it comes from, this will become a real headache in the future for the good old ncaa.

I suspect that a lot of coeds would pay the expenses to go out with a football (and for sure a basketball) star.

 

[blufvr4evr]

do they pay for their schooling now??? I'll drink to that.......................