Hey everyone. This is a serious question that I have never had any knowledge about, and would love to understand what it really means.
So, what would a fully funded cross country program have? What are the benefits? Does this mean more scholarship money for the student-athletes? I would like someone to please clarify. Thanks.
The NCAA puts certain limits on how many full scholarships a program in a given sport can offer. Off the top of my head, I seem to remember that number being 12.6 for mens' XC and TF combined. I could be off on that.
However, no school is obligated to actually offer that many scholarships. A "fully funded" school, as I recall the term being used, meant that the school actually offered the maximum amount of athletic scholarships.
Some conferences insist on fully-funded programs. Others don't. ND is the only private U. --to my knowledge-- that fully funds all ncaa sports m/w.
Women are allowed 18 T&F ships. If you aren't giving that many, you are not fully funded. That would be 18x (what tuition R&B equal in cash).
A fully funded program is maxing out scholarship allotments as dictated by the NCAA. As already stated, 12.6 for men and 18 for women.
As far as how it correlates to team success and individual athletes that varies. You can be a walkon on a fully funded team, it just means that the 12.6 and 18 scholarships are going to other athletes. Academic scholarships do not count against a team's scholarship count...most of the time. Scholarships can be divided and indeterminate amount of athletes, but a school must not exceed the maximum equivalent of scholarships, i.e. a school could give 36 women 50% scholarships.
Chances are a fully funded team is going to be more competitive. But, just as there are good teams from small conferences and bad teams from power conferences, there will be good teams that are not fully funded (especially at the DII level) and some lackluster teams that are fully funded. There is more to the equation than just scholarships; coaching, admin support, facilities and operating budgets also factor into the strength of a program. But chances are that a team with scholarship dollars, especially in men's track and field, has the administration behind them as well as a good operating budget.
Also, full equivalency amounts at the DII level are 12 scholarships for both men and women. (I think that's right, correct me if I am wrong.)
Force22 wrote:
Some conferences insist on fully-funded programs. Others don't. ND is the only private U. --to my knowledge-- that fully funds all ncaa sports m/w.
Women are allowed 18 T&F ships. If you aren't giving that many, you are not fully funded. That would be 18x (what tuition R&B equal in cash).
What about Stanford?