Slive Pushes NCAA to Allow Stipends

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive called on the NCAA to make it easier for conferences to allow student-athletes to meet the full cost of attendance, which may include additional stipends. South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier and others have advocated for such changes in the rules to allow schools to award athletes stipends. 

“The NCAA has not been successful in meeting the full cost of attendance of our student‑athletes, whether through the so‑called miscellaneous expense allowance or some other model that provides broad access to additional funds,” Slive said. “Conferences and their member institutions must be allowed to meet the needs of their student‑athletes. In recent conversations with my commissioner colleagues, there appears to be a willingness to support a meaningful solution to this important change.”

Throughout his speech, Slive took on the NCAA’s regulatory structure and bureaucracy from everything to recruiting to policies dealing with concussions.