Missouri among schools offering academic bonuses to athletes

The 9-0 Supreme Court ruling in the Alston v. NCAA case changed a lot of things about college football. The ruling itself specifically targeted putting a cap on education-related benefits. Because of this, several schools have begun offering bonuses to student-athletes, the latest being Missouri.

Schools can pay academic bonuses to student-athletes up to $5,980. Missouri, for its part, isn’t paying the full amount. For two academic semesters with a GPA higher than 3.5, Missouri paid $2,400. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that 406 athletes received a financial reward.

For the semester, Missouri paid out $872,800. That is money that did have to come out of the athletic budget at Missouri. However, given how much money the program spends on athletics, around $113 million annually, it’s a relatively small sum.

Growing list of schools joining Missouri

Most schools in the SEC are now offering some kind of academic bonus to student-athletes. Ten out of 14 current members of the conference offer bonuses. So do incoming members in Texas and Oklahoma. As of early April, ESPN reported that 22 FBS schools were operating some kind of incentive program.

More have added programs since then. Purdue has recently introduced an academic bonus program. Along with them have schools like Baylor in the Big 12.

This type of incentive program is good for both student-athletes and schools alike, as the schools see their average GPAs increase. However, schools with tighter academic budgets may not be able to provide this type of program that has to come out of their revenue.