The NCAA has approved a waiver, allowing schools to offer lower numbers of scholarships to athletes and still remain at the Division I level.
Last month, the NCAA rejected a proposal that requested to drop the minimum of 14 varsity sports to remain Division I programs.
So according to the NCAA, the programs will stay (at least across the board), but could look different with lower numbers of scholarships after last week’s waiver approval. It will be up to each school to decide if and where those scholarships will be cut for a year.
Division I institutions are required to offer a minimum of 200 athletic grants-in-aid per year or spend at least $4 million in grants-in-aid on athletes, according to The Associated Press, and provide 90 percent of the permissible maximum grants-in-aid in football over a rolling two-year period.
Those minimums will be waived for one year.
“This waiver does not provide relief from other financial aid rules, including financial aid commitments to prospective and current student-athletes or regulations related to the cancellation or reduction of financial aid,” the NCAA release said.
There were two other waivers that were approved along with the scholarship reduction waiver.
Basketball and football players will be allowed to participate in summer athletic activities without being enrolled in school. Also, NCAA lower-division schools that are in the process of moving up to Division I can be counted toward the minimum required Division I opponents.
The NCAA coordinator committee also signed off on waiving some recruiting rules that will provide more flexibility for coaches and athletes through the extended dead period of recruiting. The dead period for all sports currently runs through May 31. The committee will officially make its decision at its May 13 meeting to extend the dead period through June 30, according to The Associated Press.