NCAA sets new benefits for Division I athletes, drawing some qualified Congressional praise

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors on Wednesday unanimously voted to require schools to provide a series of new benefits for college athletes that includes enhanced health-care coverage and funding for completion of undergraduate degrees after their playing careers end, the association announced.

The changes, set to take effect in August 2024, are among those recommended in January by a Transformation Committee that had been charged with a wide-ranging examination of the future of major-college sports.

Wednesday’s vote comes against the backdrop of the NCAA’s ongoing efforts to persuade Congress to pass legislation that would provide a national standard for athletes’ name image and likeness activities and give it protection from lawsuits connected to its limits on athlete compensation.

The association’s progress toward the new benefits have been touted by NCAA executives, including new president Charlie Baker, and top school and conference administrators as evidence of the association’s willingness to continue making enhancements for athletes that have been demanded by some members of Congress.

Wednesday’s vote received praise from one member of the House, who also said more needs to be done. A Senate aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because legislative proposals are continuing to be developed, also applauded the NCAA, but in a qualified way.

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“Today’s vote is a substantial step in the right direction,” said a tweet from Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., who previously has offered bills regarding multiple areas of college sports. “Scholarship protections, covering medical expenses, better mental health care, and programming designed to support success after college are basic things that current and former athletes have wanted for a long time.

“We have a lot of work ahead to ensure the system of college athletics works for the athletes that power it. It’s my hope that this unanimous vote signals a new day for the NCAA under Governor Baker’s leadership – one focused on working with athletes to achieve that goal.”

Baker served as Massachusetts’ governor before moving into his current job on March 1.

The Senate aide told USA TODAY Sports via email: “These changes are encouraging but long overdue — college sports reform voices in Congress have long called for real health and safety protections for college athletes, scholarship protections, and medical coverage.

“The NCAA should focus more on implementing these changes and further supporting the real needs of college athletes, with full input from athletes along the way, instead of lobbying Congress to pull back their rights.”

A spokesperson for Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who last year introduced a measure titled the “College Athletes Bill of Rights,” said via email: “Our policy team is still looking into the details about this and will continue to evaluate.”

That bill, also sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would do more than what was approved Wednesday by the Division I board, but the new changes are significant. They include requiring all Division I schools to provide:

►Out-of-pocket medical expenses during an athlete’s playing career.

►Medical coverage for athletically related injuries for at least two years after graduation or the completion of a college sports career. Schools in the Power Five conferences already are required to do this. Pac-12 Conference schools cover athletes for four years.

►Funds that would allow an athlete who had been on a full athletic scholarship to complete an undergraduate degree anytime during the 10 years after the end of their playing career.

►Protection against an athlete losing their scholarship for athletic reasons, as is already required of Power Five schools.

Division I schools also will be required to attest that provide certain mental-health services, that they follow NCAA concussion protocols and provide career counseling and life skills training in an array of areas, including “diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.”

The board did not specifically address the Transformation Committee’s recommendation that the NCAA examine the creation of a “need-based model” for “subsidization” that may be used to help existing Division I schools “in meeting enhanced membership expectations.”