The term “free ride” is often used to describe college athletes. The idea is that in exchange for representing the school in athletics, the school will compensate the athlete with free tuition and books as well as free room and board. While LSU does provide full athletic scholarships to as many student athletes as they can, the NCAA sets tight restrictions that limit the amount of spending the Tiger athletic department can do. According to LSU Assistant Athletic Director of Student Services Miriam Segar a full-paid scholarship for a student-athlete from Louisiana is worth approximately $14,500 a year, while a full-paid scholarship for an out-of-state athlete is worth nearly $22,500 a year. Sports are divided by the athletic department as either a headcount sport or an equivalency sport. In head-count sports, student- athletes are awarded a complete 100 percent scholarship in exchange for the player’s services in each particular sport. Football is king among LSU’s headcount sports, spending an estimated $1.5 million a year among its 85 NCAA-allotted scholarships. Because of NCAA rules, all the other headcount sports at LSU combined spend only an estimated $1.1 million a year and are only given a combined 59 scholarships. LSU senior Drew Haro is a walk-on on the cross country and track and field teams. He said football deserves the extra money because they are the leaders of the athletic department. “In a perfect world everyone would love every sport equally,” he said. “Every sport would get equal coverage, fan support and financial support. But America loves football, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.” According to Segar the scholarships include full-paid tuition, room, board and books. Not every student athlete on scholarship receives the entire allotment of a full scholarship. In 10 LSU sports deemed as equivalency sports, scholarships may be divided among several players to complete the sports’ quota. Segar said the coach decides how the scholarship will be divided, meaning that a student can receive partial aid in either tuition, books or housing. “The percentage is a percentage of the total dollar amount and can be divided any category the coach decides,” Segar said. “It is not just 50 percent of each category.” Women’s track is the largest spender of the University’s equivalency sports, dividing nearly $350,000 a year among its 18 NCAA awarded scholarships. Despite leading among the equivalency sports, Haro said track and field should be granted more money because of how well the team has performed over the years. “If you ask me if it is fair that successful small sports like track and field receive little to no recognition every year, I would say, ‘No, that is not fair at all,'” he said. “It takes a lot of work to be the best in the country whether in big sports or small sports, and anyone that can make it happen should be properly commended.” Freshman cross country walk-on Brett Borne also said track and field deserve more money. “It doesn’t seem fair that a legitimate track team almost as big as football and has people who are really talented and deserving of monetary help are losing to third- and fourth-string football players,” he said. Both Haro and Borne said they do not have problems being motivated despite not being compensated for their performances. The NCAA also makes an effort to balance the number of scholarships given to male and female student athletes. The University is allowed to give 141.2 scholarships to men and only 111 to women, but in each sport shared by both men and women, the women’s sport is allotted more scholarships in order to close the huge gap created by football’s 85 scholarships. Haro said that even though football dominates scholarship revenue, small-sport athletes should be grateful for what it does for the school. “Without the football revenues many of the smaller sports would not be where they are,” he said. “I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I have been given athletically here at LSU, and if I have to thank the LSU football team also, then I will.”
—–Contact Casey Gisclair [email protected]