North Dakota State to offer cost of attendance scholarships

North Dakota State is joining the “cost-of-attendance” movement.

The school announced Thursday that it would provide full cost of attendance to all of its scholarship athletes beginning in the 2016-17 season. The school said it believes it’s one of only two FCS programs to take this step.

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Cost-of-attendance stipends had been a big topic of debate on the FBS level before the Power Five conferences decided to endorse the move and allow school to add miscellaneous funds for items beyond tuition, fees, room, board and books.

However, full cost of attendance scholarships have not been discussed at the FCS level. But NDSU is not the typical FCS program. It has won four straight FCS titles and has competed well against FBS opponents. It not only has raised the bar on the field, but it’s now putting pressure on other FCS schools to keep up in order to attract high-level athletes.

“For us it was about who you recruit against,” NDSU athletic director Matt Larsen said. “We’re recruiting against programs that are going to offer this. We thought it was important to give our coaches the tools to be apples to apples with those programs.”

Liberty University (Va.) is the only other known FCS program to offer cost of attendance scholarship in all sports.

NDSU estimates it will take $600,000 to $700,000 to cover this venture — works out to $3,400 per student-athlete — that will come from external fundraising.

“Could a student probably get a job? Yeah, they probably could but not if we want to be successful with all the things we make them do,” Larsen said. “And that is to be special athletes and do great in school and all those things. This certainly alleviates a lot of that.”

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