Ole Miss' Alston awards are available to scholarship, walk-on athletes

Ole Miss offers both its scholarship and walk-on athletes education-related financial payments, which are commonly referred to as Alston awards, following the Supreme Court of the United States’ 9-0 decision in NCAA v. Alston in June 2021.

Each institution can determine if and how it offers Alston awards, although some decisions are made at the conference level. On3 obtained a copy of Ole Miss’ Alston awards policy through a public records request.

Alston awards are capped at $5,980 annually per athlete because that’s the most that an individual athlete “could receive in an academic year in participation, championship or special achievement awards,” according to the NCAA.

Institutions can provide other non-monetary, education-related benefits, such as laptops, AirPods or a travel bag. “This equipment, if provided, is intended to be used for academic related purposes and to aid
current student-athletes toward achieving academic success,” according to Ole Miss’ Alston awards policy.

Not every institution that offers Alston awards offers the full award amount to walk-ons, if they’re offered at all.

Ole Miss athletes must satisfy several requirements in order to receive Alston awards, which are divided into payments of $2,990 per semester. Ole Miss processes its payments around Oct. 15 in the fall semester and around March 15 in the spring semester.

The university spent roughly $2.3 million on Alston awards during the 2021-22 school year.

The Alston awards criteria at Ole Miss

“Continuing” athletes at Ole Miss must be enrolled as full-time students and earn the academic eligibility point in accordance with the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) to receive Alston awards. Athletes must also be retained on their program’s active roster at the time of the NCAA’s APR census date.

Athletes must be in good standing. They can’t be in the Transfer Portal at the time their Alston award check is issued in order to receive the award.

Ole Miss athletes who have exhausted their eligibility can receive Alston awards if they’re still enrolled to complete their initial undergraduate degree or if they’re still on an athletic scholarship while they finish the academic year.

Freshmen and transfer athletes at Ole Miss can receive Alston awards if they’re in good standing, enrolled as full-time students, a member of an active roster, not in the Transfer Portal and if they are participating in or have completed the REBS program through the Fed-Ex Student-Athlete Success Center.

The athletic department can offer half the award for participating in the REBS program and half upon completion.

The history of Alston awards

Former West Virginia running back Shawne Alston was the namesake plaintiff in NCAA v. Alston, which challenged the NCAA’s rules on education-related benefits for athletes.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in 2019 that the NCAA’s rules violated antitrust law under the Sherman Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and later the Supreme Court upheld the district court’s ruling.

Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the Supreme Court’s opinion. Justice Brett Kavanaugh also offered a concurring opinion. He wrote, in part, “I add this concurring opinion to underscore that the NCAA’s remaining compensation rules also raise serious questions under the antitrust laws.”

An ESPN survey published in April 2022 found that less than two dozen FBS institutions had plans to provide Alston awards during the year. Nearly half of those schools are in the SEC.

Since then, more schools have announced their plans to offer Alston awards.

Here you can read On3’s guide to Alston awards.