For the 2009-10 school year, the NCAA listed 430,301 athletes between all three divisions. They also stated that 145,000 student-athletes receive partial or full scholarships. That figures out to approximately one-third of the student-athlete population receiving any athletic aid between Divisions I and II. Michigan State, as one of the largest universities in the country, boasts more than 800 student-athletes, yet they have the same requirements set forth by the NCAA for the maximum number of scholarships.

Men’s football is a headcount sport, meaning that an individual either receives full athletic aid or none. The NCAA has established that NCAA Division I institutions may fund up to 85 full scholarships. MSU lists 110 players on its 2010-11 roster. That’s 25 football players participating for no athletic aid whatsoever, and the football team retains the most scholarships in the form of athletic aid.

Most of the Olympic sports — swimming and diving, wrestling and track and field to name a few — are equivalency sports. They are provided with the equivalent of a specific number of full scholarships to divide amongst their student-athletes. In men’s swimming and diving, the athletic department can fund up to 9.9 scholarships. Within a team of 26 men, you can decipher that full and even partial scholarships are not bountiful.

As a proud Spartan student-athlete, I am very grateful for the support the athletic department and the university give every day to its student-athletes as well as its academic and athletic endeavors, but to suggest that student-athletes are fully funded from school, to housing, to clothing, food, and even gas money to get to practice and back, is ridiculous.

I would ask that you calculate your tuition dollars, room and board fees and the amount you spend on books and then compare it to how much money you spend per year as a whole. I can guarantee, myself included, that there is a decent chunk of change spent on what this particular student considers to be “extras.” Out-of-state students, especially those living further away, also should take into account the dollars spent on flights home and back for breaks in the academic year or gas for the drive. The money spent on a flight home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring Break adds up and doesn’t leave much left over from the additional $2,000 suggested by the NCAA.

The comment suggesting student-athletes can now save the money that they would have spent on college and use it on living expenses is also not well-thought-out. If you didn’t have the money to attend college in the first place, saving the money for other expenses doesn’t really pan out.

Although most are happy to dedicate themselves to their sport and studies, it does present less of an opportunity to work many hours per week.

Student-athletes also are required to report their work information to the MSU Office of Compliance Services to ensure that they only are being paid for legitimate work in accordance with regulations set forth by the NCAA.

The comment about publicity also is narrowly applicable. The names of maybe a dozen football players, ten basketball players and a few hockey players are recognizable, but the rest of the student-athlete population studies, serves and participates without the limelight. Student-athletes participate in outreach activities throughout the community without recognition, and they do it because they want to give back to those around them. Those athletes who have found themselves in the limelight have done a great job of representing the university through their academic, athletic and community service endeavors as well.

Debates surrounding this addition to the NCAA athletic aid format touch on the financial burden placed upon universities, but to suggest it is unnecessary based upon the publicity and extra benefits already endowed to student-athletes has little standing on the whole.

Victoria Merritt is a State News guest columnist and political theory and constitutional democracy senior. Reach her at merrittv@msu.edu.