Power 5 conferences pass cost-of-attendance measure as NCAA autonomy begins
FORT WASHINGTON, Md. -- The power players in collegiate athletics enacted historic change Saturday at the NCAA convention, passing the first package of autonomous legislation, headlined by a full cost-of-attendance measure that will supplement student-athletes' scholarships with unprecedented dollars.
"It's a big day for student-athletes," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. "The benefits now available to student-athletes are more significant. This is a big step forward and a response to a changing circumstance for the 21st-century athlete."
The discussion and vote Saturday outside Washington, D.C., thrust fully into the spotlight the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12 after the Division I Board of Directors granted autonomy to the Power 5 conferences last August to create rules free of the full NCAA membership.
Full cost of attendance passed on a 79-1 vote from the panel comprised of 15 student-athletes -- a historic event in its own right -- and the 65 schools of the football-driven leagues.
Read more: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/12185230/power-5-conferences-pass-cost-attendance-measure-ncaa-autonomy-begins
