The NCAA will provide former college football and basketball players with aid for future educational expenses, career development costs and other benefits as part of a lawsuit settlement it reached with ex-athletes.
The settlement in the class action suit Jason White, et al. v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, which was reached in January, was given final approval on Aug. 5 by the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Former football players Jason White (Stanford) and Brian Polak (UCLA) and former basketball players Jovan Harris (San Francisco) and Chris Craig (Texas-El Paso) filed a class action complaint on Feb. 17, 2006 on behalf of all student-athletes who received athletic-based, grants-in-aid and participated in a Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) or men’s basketball in 16 named conferences. The plaintiffs alleged the NCAA and its member institutions violated the federal antitrust laws by limiting athletic-based aid to tuition, books, housing and meals.
The settlement applies to the class of athletes in the named football and basketball programs who received athletic grants-in-aid from Feb. 17, 2002 to Aug. 4, 2008.
The settlement establishes the creation of a $10 million Former Student-Athlete Fund from NCAA reserves, to which members of the class may apply for funds to cover the costs of career-development services, such as résumé preparation and career counseling (not to exceed $500), and/or reimbursement of future educational expenses (maximum of $2,500 per year for three years).
The NCAA says the settlement creates “greater flexibility” in how schools use the $218 million available through the 2012-13 school year in the Special Assistance and Academic Enhancement funds for existing student-athletes.
The NCAA has created a Web page to explain the benefits. There are additional points about health and accident insurance.
