You will be shocked, shocked to learn that Alabama has just adjusted its COA figures.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban has called cost of attendance a “nightmare” because of varying numbers by schools and concerns the figures could be fudged. He even suggested the NFL’s salary cap could be a model to cap stipends for college players, missing the point that the Ed O’Bannon ruling won’t allow such collusion and the NFL salary cap gets negotiated by a players union that doesn’t exist in college sports.
Don’t feel too bad for Saban, though. As it turns out, Alabama’s cost of attendance stipends will rank among the leaders nationally at $5,386 for out-of-state players and $4,172 for in-state players, according to information the university provided to CBSSports.com.
This represents a 34-percent increase in Alabama’s cost of attendance figure for out-of-state students from two years ago and a 14-percent increase for in-state students.
Man, Alabama must be one expensive state to pursue a higher education. I’m sure it’s merely a coincidence that the costs rose so dramatically just in time to pay student-athletes a stipend.
Get The Picture 
Isn’t Alabama one of those “business friendly ” states that promotes itself as a low tax low regulation and therefore a lower cost of living state? Now we learn it is cheaper to live in new York.
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Much like the admission of Jonathan Taylor, it was an academic decision by the university totally independent of considerations of football. (Yes they did said that about Taylor)
I want some student to sue for having to pay back loans that were tied to fraudulent considerations. These costs will be passed on to the lenders and eventually to the students plus interests and they are substantially artificial. Will some enterprising class action lawyer please find a representative?
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The loans the student did not need that they voluntarily took out and then frivolously spent. Those loans?
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You just apply. The send you the whole check. You don’t negotiate what you get. You don’t know what you need. Then they charge you interest and then you graduate while the interest has been piling up.
I’m sure that a 19 yo should deposit the check calculate out exactly what he needs to get through December and send the balance to the lender immediately. That’s exactly where the responsibility should lie. Not with people in their 50’s and 60’s trying to use illiterates to win football games by promising them money they’ll never have to pay back. I’m also quite certain that students can get landlords not to charge more in rents because they really don’t have more disposable income cause they all agreed to send it back to the bank.
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Are you sure about the “apply and they send you the whole amount” thing? I know of several people who’s kids took out some student loans to pay for PART of the cost of college. They didn’t simply send in the name of the school they were attending and the lender sent them a check for the whole cost of attending.
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Derek is incorrect. Cost of attendance figures are required by the federal government and must be published every year. The information is public. It is generated by the Financial Aid office. It is an attempt to give a genuine estimate of the total cost of attendance at a school. As opposed to simply giving tuition figures. The COA stipend for athletes is supposed to help cover any difference between what an athletic scholarship provides and the total cost of attendance. Those not on athletic scholarship are not eligible for COA stipends. In fact, even most athletes who are on scholarship are not eligible for COA stipends. As a student, athlete or otherwise, if you apply for and receive scholarships or grants, you will, indeed, get whatever they choose to give you. That’s because scholarships and grants are not repaid. They are not loans. The people who dole out scholarship and grant money make every attempt to do two things: figure out how much you need, and spread the wealth around as much as possible. Very, very few people get a full ride scholarship or grant. Loans are a different matter. They must be repaid. Therefore, you will definitely negotiate with your lender when it comes to loans. The caveat being this: lenders WANT to lend you as much as possible. They know they WILL get paid. Student loan debt is not forgivable. It will not be discharged in bankruptcy court. If you die your relatives must pay. They WILL get their money. So yeah, they want to send you a big fat check. The system encourages irresponsible behavior.
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Trying to figure out what I’m wrong about. Are you saying that students on loans and athletes on scholarship have different costs of attendance? I assumed that they were the same number. Chubb gets it in a check he does not have to repay while some regular how student gets the same amount but he has to pay it back.
Also the fact that it’s public doesn’t mean it isn’t artificial or fraudulent.
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Trust me I know something about student loan debt and how I got it.
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It appears you are somewhat confused. You stated that you did not get to negotiate the amount of the student loan. You definitely CAN tell the lender how much you want to borrow. If you don’t know how much you will need, you probably need to put off college until you do a little research and figure that out.
For example; if you, or your parents, could afford $10,000 a year to pay for college, but it would cost $20,000 a year to attend college, you can borrow $10,000 a year for 4 years and leave college owing $40,000. You do not have to borrow $80,000 simply because that’s the amount it costs to get your degree.
I’m sure the lender would be more than happy to lend you the full $80,000 because student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy court and the govt guarantees the loan. If you default on the loan, the govt can seize your tax refund, social security payments, etc to recoup the money they pay the lender. There are only two ways to get rid of student loan debt; pay it back or die.
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All I can say is I applied and got a check. I can also say I could have used a bit more not a bit less. It was a long time ago so the details… Who knows? Don’t recall anything but getting a check and later a bill.
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Damn man. You are the living example of why college kids should not be allowed to apply of an unlimited loan. No concept of tomorrow.
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Maybe I’m dumber than a rock but I know what “unlimited” means and it’s never used in a sentence with “loan.” I’d like to see the application for an “unlimited” loan. “Yes mr. Banker I’d like a line of credit, well to be precise an unlimited line of credit.” I’m sure it happens every day especially to law students. Why not loan them an “unlimited” amount of money?
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What?!? No you do not just apply and they send a check! You have a max of what you can apply for but you can ask for less. Trust me as someone who is paying on student loans I know this.
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Dreck might be on to something. Bama/Auburn financial aid offices goes in the tank for COA figure to help football. Ordinary students get inflated student loan debt following same numbers. HERE COMES LEGALMAN!
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or the next bubble to burst (see real estate 2007)
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Three points:
The O/U on the amount of time it takes someone to bitch about the above link taking them to CBS.com instead is 14 minutes
I know I’m being captain obvious here, but this COA stipend already is a total disaster, in which renegade type schools/programs will use such muddled at best guidelines for maximum gain. Meanwhile, the programs that view themselves as the paragon of virtue (“The Georgia Way”) will draw a line in the sand, dig in deep, and hold firm on their peanuts like COA while said renegades unabashedly jack up their COA to the fullest
Auburn will see Bama’s newly adjusted COA and raise them—perhaps even go All In—sometime between now and Sept. 1st.
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Over the last six months, Mr. Moorehead has done a pretty job of discrediting “The Georgia Way” and virtues you speak of. Here’s hoping the COA is on the same list as the IPF, assistant coaches salaries, recruiting support teams, etc.
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I’m surpised they didn’t come in at $10K and obliterate Tennessee and the SEC West. Maybe next year depending on how recruiting goes for them.
Of course this only represents what they pay above the table.
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It does make you wonder if these payments to players will essentially numb any concerns about other sorts of compensation. “So Ron slipped the kid a hundred bucks! The school gives gives him 5 grand! What’s the big deal?” I could see this leading to the something that might look like the SWC of the early 1980’s or like auburn everyday for the last 70 years. Not saying that under the current system these payments aren’t warranted but it may be a Pandora’s box in terms of not being able to credibly police compensation.
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The Senator doesn’t like to see “Pandora’s Box” used in reference to COA. He believes that the money differences won’t sway the young and broke. And we “wink” when mentioning other illegal compensation.
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Thanks for putting words in my mouth I never wrote.
If money differences sway the young and broke, as you put it, how does that differ from anyone else sucking from the teat of college athletics? More to the point, why should they differ? Because that appeals to your sense of aesthetics?
Pretty easy to deny somebody else, eh?
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What a surprise.
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What next a separate COA for athletes? Well a “normal” student can get a job to supplement his “needs” while a Student-ATHLETE can not so the university should help offset that amount by increasing the s-A COA.
Let the bidding begin.
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I’m shocked..just shocked..
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Nick is right. The figures could be fudged, ya know.
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