Patriot League Presidents Endorse Change in Football Athletic Aid Policy - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Patriot League Presidents Endorse Change in Football Athletic Aid Policy

Athletic Merit Aid Awards to be Permissible with Class Entering in Fall 2013

Bison Football

Feb. 13, 2012

LEWISBURG, Pa. –The Patriot League announced today that its Council of Presidents has endorsed a policy that will allow athletic merit aid for the sport of football, beginning with the class entering in the fall of 2013.

Bucknell and the other six football-playing members of the Patriot League will be permitted to award up to the equivalent of 15 athletic financial aid awards each year. The total amount of all countable financial aid awarded to football student-athletes may not exceed 60 equivalencies in any given year. The NCAA Football Championship Subdivision limit is 63.

While it has been permissible for Patriot League institutions to offer athletic and academic merit aid to student-athletes in the league’s other 22 sponsored sports, football has maintained a need-based financial aid model since its inception in 1986.

“I appreciate the thoughtful way the Presidents’ Council of the Patriot League has assessed this decision,” said Bucknell University President John Bravman. “Bucknell is proud to be part of a league where the strong spirit of competition is secondary to the shared goal of offering student-athletes an outstanding learning experience, and we will uphold that commitment as we work through the implications of this decision for our football program and our university.”

“This approach for awarding athletic merit aid to football student-athletes will allow our member schools flexibility to determine the most effective use of their financial aid resources to attract highly qualified Division I scholar-athletes in a very competitive academic and athletic marketplace,” said Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich. “The introduction of this financial aid model for football will strengthen the Patriot League’s ability to compete for outstanding student-athletes while continuing to uphold the high academic standards of the league and its member institutions.”

Patriot League founding members Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh are joined by associate members Fordham and Georgetown in the sport of football.

Bucknell finished 6-5 in 2011, and its five-win improvement over the previous season tied a school record.