Mar 4
In Canada, Canadian Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) rules ban all entrance scholarships for athletics, and athletes can only get funding once they enter their second year of school. Even then the amount is based on the total team due to "ceiling rules" (i.e., not one student can receive the bulk of the award, it has to be shared among his team members equally). Less than a quarter of CIS athletes receive scholarships for their abilities.
The main reason that Canadian schools like UBC and SFU have been expressing interest in US NCAA membership is because of the differences in scholarship rules between CIS and the US organization. The NCAA allows schools to give out so-called "full-ride" scholarships—tuition, fees, room and board, and books—while CIS schools are only allowed to pay for tuition and fees at the most. That discrepancy in funding—as well as the opportunity for wider competition south of the border— means that many of Canada’s top athletes leave the country for school.
Apr 28, 2008 at 2:42 PM This is incorrect. May CIS teams are now giving entrance schoolarships to athletes.
May 27, 2008 at 1:31 PM Me being me I had to check this for myself. Sure enough entrance awards are now available http://www.universitysport.ca/e/student/index.cfm#financial
Vicky Driver
Career Practitioner Lester B. Pearson High School Calgary