Sport scholarship

Future directions
As a consequence of the complaints voiced and involvement by the Justice Department, in August 2011 the Division I Board of Directors adopted multiyear scholarship legislation to allow Division I schools to provide scholarships for a period greater than one year^[7] This legislation was one of many steps the Board of Directors took after the NCAA President Mark Emmert organized a meeting to discuss issues with the operation of Division I athletics.^[8] Voting to override Proposal No 2011-97 (as it was named) was open until Friday, February 17, 2012.^[8] By a very narrow margin, the multiyear scholarship legislation was upheld. Of the 330 Division I schools, 62.1% voted in favor of the override, which was just .4% short of the 62.5% majority required to overturn the proposal.^[9] Following the outcome, President Mark Emmert was quoted saying, "I am pleased that student-athletes will continue to benefit from the ability of institutions to offer athletics aid for more than one year, but it's clear that there are significant portions of the membership with legitimate concerns. As we continue to examine implementation of the rule, we want to work with the membership to address those concerns."^[9] Some opponents worry that multiyear scholarships award wealthy schools an advantage in the recruiting process.^[9] Others contend that coaches will be forced to keep players that are not a good fit for their program.^[9] It is important to note, however, that member institutions opposed to the decision will not be forced to offer student-athletes multiyear scholarships. Rather, the decision, provides coaches and universities with the option to extend the scholarship term if they so choose.^[9] By spring 2012, a number of sports programs had declared their intent to offer multiyear scholarships including Ohio State, Auburn, Michigan, Michigan State, Florida, and Nebraska.^[9]
In June 2014, the Big Ten Conference school presidents endorsed a proposal for four-year guaranteed scholarships that covered the full cost of attendance, although it had not yet moved to implement this proposal. This followed a policy statement by the school presidents of the Pac-12 Conference that stopped just short of endorsing the same.^[10]
The first school known to have actually implemented a four-year guarantee was the University of South Carolina, which announced on September 25, 2014, that athletes in football, men's and women's basketball, and women's tennis and volleyball would receive guaranteed scholarships effective immediately. The sports are those classified by the NCAA as "headcount" sports, in which teams can provide financial aid to a specified number of players. The school also said it was working on a way to provide a similar guarantee to those in "equivalency" sports—those in which the NCAA limits teams to providing aid equivalent to a set number of scholarships, with that number being lower than the size of a full playing squad.^[11] The following month, the Pac-12 presidents passed a change to conference rules that instituted four-year guaranteed scholarships (full or partial) in all conference sports.^[12]
In February 2012 John Kavanagh, then a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, introduced bill HB 2675, which would have required students attending a public university in the state of Arizona (Arizona State University, University of Arizona, or Northern Arizona University) to pay an additional $2,000 fee in order to attend one of the three universities. The bill also stated that students should pay this fee from their own means, meaning that no federal or state grants would cover this fee. Only students on full-ride academic or athletic scholarships would have been exempt from this fee.^[13] The bill had been scheduled for a vote by the full House, but was then withdrawn by the legislator who had originally introduced it.^[14]
Other countries
In other countries athletic scholarships are far more restricted.
Canada
A common misconception is that Canadian schools do not offer athletic scholarship money for their athletes.^[15]

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  Tuition and compulsory fees is the maximum amount an athlete can receive for athletic-related awards in an academic year, including athletic-related bursaries.
  
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  The value and quantity of athletic-related awards and bursaries available varies from institution to institution.
  
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  Specific awards and bursaries may have additional conditions, such as academic success and citizenship
  
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  Many awards, such as academic awards or awards provided by Sport Governing Bodies or the Federal and Provincial Governments, are not included within the tuition and compulsory fees maximum
  
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  The athlete is eligible to receive an award or bursary at the beginning of their first year (September) at a university if they have a minimum entering average of 80% or equivalent. Alternatively, the athlete is eligible to receive an award at the end of their first year at a university (spring or summer) if they satisfy U Sports academic requirements with at least a 65% average or equivalent. Thereafter, the athlete is eligible to receive an award at the beginning of any year if they satisfy U Sports academic requirements with at least a 65% average or equivalent in the preceding year.
  

Many Canadian student/athletes decide to go to NCAA Division 1 programs based on the illusion that they are receiving a better deal from these schools with regards to finances and athletics. A typical Canadian university program could cost between $5,000-$6,000 Canadian per year, where as an NCAA school charges between $25,000 to $40,000 US to attend their programs. Compounding this is the cost of travel to and from the university for both student and family and the associated costs of living away from home. Based on the information above, Canadian schools have less tuition to cover and also do not have to include substantial federal/provincial scholarships and academic scholarships in their scholarship declarations.
While the competitive standard for some sports may be higher in some Division I (and sometimes Division II) schools, this does vary. In general, this difference would not materialize until the play-off portion of the season, where the standard is much higher overall than the general standard of NCAA competition.
The academic standard for athletes is lower in United States and leaves many Canadian students returning to Canada having to take extra courses and in some cases, extra years of study in order to have their academic qualifications recognized.
U Sports schools are also not bound by the tight NCAA rules surrounding contacts with athletes and in reality, means that U Sports coaches have the potential to develop their athletes to a higher standard, while also maintaining higher academics due to the above-mentioned differences in academic standards.