MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State scholarship student-athletes will soon be afforded additional financial assistance as department officials announced today a plan to support the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling of annual academic incentive awards.
Following the recent ruling, student-athletes are now eligible to receive a yearly academic incentive award of $5,980.
“At K-State, we want to do everything we can to help and reward our student-athletes for all of the hard work they put in on the field, in the classroom and in our community,” Athletics Director Gene Taylor said. “Our mission as an athletics department is to provide our teams and student-athletes the resources they need to be successful at the highest level while also providing them the best experience possible.”
Institutions determine their level of financial participation and academic achievement standards for the payment. Per Big 12 Conference policy, only scholarship student-athletes are eligible to receive these awards. Consistent with K-State Athletics’ mission of supporting student-athlete academic achievement and retention that results in graduation, the department’s policy is designed to recognize student-athletes that achieve those objectives.
Starting with the 2022-23 academic year, K-State Athletics will invest an additional $1.4 million yearly in this program. Taylor confirmed that numerous donors have already contributed more than $600,000 toward this initiative, and between contributions and departmental funds the department will fully fund the $1.4 annual cost of the program.
“While this is an additional annual cost to our department, we feel that it is an important investment in our student-athletes to continue to provide them a great experience at K-State,” Taylor added.
Scholarship student-athletes who earn all individual APR points will be awarded 25 percent of the permissible award amount based on his/her individual scholarship equivalency on a semester-by-semester basis. The remainder of the permissible award will be held for the student-athlete as an incentive to graduate with their first baccalaureate degree within six (6) years of initial full-time enrollment.
RYAN LACKEY
Assistant Athletics Director for Communications