Pac-12 passes sweeping new rule changes on scholarships, transfers

The Pac-12 Conference has passed a set of new rules for its athletes concerning scholarships, athlete transfers and more under the new autonomy granted by the NCAA.

Several of the major changes are similar to those proposed by the Big Ten earlier this month. Among them are guaranteeing athlete scholarships for four years and improving health insurance for student athletes.

The Pac-12 is among the 5 major football conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) given autonomy by the NCAA to set many of their own rules.

The Big Ten implemented some changes of its own early this month, and sent a list of recommendations on to the NCAA. You can read our report on those proposals here.

Here’s a quick look at a couple of the major changes within the Pac-12. Most of the rules will go into effect beginning with the 2015-2016 season:

Guaranteeing scholarships for four years

The Big Ten announced in early October that it would become the first conference to guarantee athlete scholarships for four years. The Pac-12 followed suit this week.

Typically, athlete scholarships are drawn up as 1-year contracts, meaning the school can alter the scholarship amounts or pull the financial support altogether from year to year. The new wave within college sports seems to be schools and conferences treating scholarships as 4-year deals, which can’t be altered as long as the athlete stays in good standing with the program.

Among the Big Ten proposals to the NCAA was guaranteeing scholarships “for life” – meaning that if an athlete left the school for a legitimate reason prior to graduating, he or she would be able to return to school and finish out their degree later on in life with the same financial support.

The Pac-12 will implement its own version of that rule, with a stipulation that an athlete must complete half of their degree before leaving to be guaranteed their financial aid when they return.

Student-athlete health insurance

This is a more hot-button issue in highly injury-prone sports like football or basketball, but still has an impact on the sport of swimming. The Pac-12 will now require its schools to cover medical expenses for athletically-related injuries in its athletes.

This was also among the Big Ten proposals. New in the Pac-12 rules, though, is that schools will actually be required to take care of their athletes well after graduation: the conference has set a 4-year-window after an athlete graduates where injuries related to their college sport-playing days will be covered by the school.

Loosening transfer rules relating to scholarships

The other major change the Pac-12 has made is allowing athletes to transfer to a different school within the conference and still receive a scholarship. Most major conferences won’t allow an athlete to earn a scholarship at a new school after transferring within the conference. The changes knock out that rule within the Pac-12.

An important note: this does not change the 1-year sit-out rule. Athletes who transfer without a release from their former program will still have to sit out one year of competition before joining their new team. That rule comes down from the NCAA, and would need to be changed on the national level. (It’s also possible the NCAA could allow the Big 5 conferences to change that rule themselves given their new autonomy, though it remains to be seen exactly what that new autonomy means for the conferences in cases like this.)

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott did tell CBSSports that the 1-year sit-out rule is “something we believe should be discussed,” but said the conference is going to see what happens on a national scale first. “We are encouraging a national discussion about those transfer rules.”

 

The Pac-12 changes also include more athlete representation and input at conference meetings. Getting athletes more involved in the governance of college sports has been a big rallying cry from those supporting increased benefits for athletes, and this is a move that seems to be happening more and more in various forms across the NCAA.

The conference hasn’t yet decided if it will give student-athletes a vote on conference issues or how that vote will be organized. According to CBSSports, options include adding a 4th vote to each member school (currently each school gets a vote from an athletic director, a senior administrator and a faculty rep) or creating a separate vote to represent all student-athletes of the conference.

In terms of swimming, these rules could turn out to have some high-profile impacts on swimming, even if they will probably affects more athletes in sports like football and basketball. That’s because some of the bigger swimming stars of the U.S. National Team are either in the Pac-12 or have committed there, including the two biggest names in American women’s swimming right now, Missy Franklin (Cal) and Katie Ledecky (Stanford).

Franklin, now a sophomore at Cal, seemed originally set on swimming two college seasons before turning pro heading into the Rio Olympics. The rules that would have her scholarship waiting for her after going pro might be coming just too late. CBSSports reports that the conference plans to start that rule with the 2016-2017 season. It could turn out to be in play for Ledecky, though, who could conceivably swim two years at Stanford starting next fall, complete the half of her degree required, turn pro and then come back to finish her schooling with the same athletic scholarship.

There are a lot of moving pieces in those scenarios, including when Ledecky decides to start her college eligibility. Probably most unpredictable are the further rule changes that the Pac-12, the Big 5 conferences and the NCAA will implement over the next few years. Given the major ways the landscape has changed already, it’s a near-certainty that more big upheavals are in store for college athletics.

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Swimfan2
9 years ago

So how does this change affect an athlete who does not come in on a full-ride scholarship? Are scholarlarship awards able to be increased if an athlete’s performance warrants it? My daughter started her collegiate swimming career with a partial scholarship but earned a full ride after a couple years due to her performance.

PAC12BACKER
9 years ago

Nothing in life is guaranteed. but I do like how the Big 10 and PAC 12 are taking the lead on this issue.

swimmersear
9 years ago

These changes are not as big as they appear to be. While scholarships have not been guaranteed for four years in the past, most coaches and college programs honored scholarships for all four years. Several years ago all four D1 schools that my son visited and was offered differing scholarships to, all stated that they would honor the initial scholarship offer for all four years. In fact they all described this policy as the norm at most college programs. That as long as he stayed with the program and didn’t act in a way that was a clear contradiction to the program, such as commit a felony, or the like, that the scholarship would be honored. Even if there was… Read more »

James
9 years ago

As a 30 year old person who has a good, established job and a family I understand what some of these professional swimmers give up. Many spend a decade of post grad chasing the Olympic dream – and while they might make a living wage and have fun, it’s not a roses. Many coach swimming or do clinics to earn extra cash, which isn’t going to build a resume unless you are chasing a full time coach position.

easyspeed
9 years ago

The NCAA should just allow pro athletes to compete. Problem solved. As long as they are taking the minimum number of classes and maintain a certain GPA, they have the same four year elgibility as everyone else. Can anyone give me a good reason not to do this? There isn’t one. Does the NCAA want athletes to be poor because suffering builds character? I don’t get it. Hurting student athletes for no reason. Just like the Olympics, I think the NCAA will allow pros someday. It’s just a matter of people pressuring the elites in charge to get of their high horse and do what’s right.

Eagleswim
Reply to  easyspeed
9 years ago

Well for the record: I agree with you. For every sport. but there is a moral problem I encounter when I think of dealing with other sports. Where schools that have more wealth could easily disguise cash flows from the athletic department to booster clubs to “anonymous buyers” of autographed memorabilia or whatever. Promises of wealth could quickly diminish the competition among schools in the big sports like football and basketball.

I’m not gonna get too into it, but I think the ncaa has good reasons to not allow this kind of behavior in the interest of maintaining competition. Even if I don’t necessarily agree with it.

I’m far removed from my collegiate swimming career, but I can’t help… Read more »

sam
9 years ago

Doesn’t seem “fair” to me. Sounds like a tool to give these conferences a hands up on recruiting. There are thousands of athletes who would gladly take the place of these athletes, scholarship or not. If the athlete decides they no longer wish to represent the institution and choose to leave the program, they SHOULD NOT BE REWARDED with a FREE education.

SUNY Cal
9 years ago

Does the 4 year scholarship guarantee apply to athletes who are already in the college and say maybe in their 2nd year?? Or does it apply only to new athletes coming in 2015 when new rules start??

Swim2
9 years ago

Why won’t college swimming just die? Go to the school of your choice – swim as a pro with the club right next door (or in most cases the same campus). Make money as a pro that would dwarf your scholarship. And get rid of these very un american “you can’t make money even though people want to give it to you” rules. This is crazy!!!

Todd
Reply to  Swim2
9 years ago

What about the swimmer who isn’t good enough to turn PRO and is using the college scholarship to get that education?

Jenn
Reply to  Todd
9 years ago

Agree with Todd. College swimming is about allowing those swimmers who can’t go pro get an education. Most of the college swimmers go to great schools where they can get a degree and go get a good job when they are done. Can’t take that away from them.

swim2
Reply to  Jenn
9 years ago

I am not concerned with the swimmers that are not good enough to be pro.

Colin
Reply to  Swim2
9 years ago

Why doesn’t USA Swimming just offer to pay for the education of the most promising athletes so that they can persue a pro career with minimal risk?? Oh, wait……

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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