The formal Ivy league was formed in the early 50's because the
informal Ivy's were concerned about the direction big time college
athletics were taking.  The areas of concern were different (i.e.
lower) admission standards for athletes than for the regular
students, the staggering cost of  athletic scholarships (i.e. high
tuition) and the inequity of athletic scholarships for student who
were not really in need of full scholarships.  So the Ivy agreement is
no athletic scholarships and no breaks in admissions for athletes.
The league has elaborate monitoring of  admission standards and
financial aide offers for athletes (good fences make good neighbors)
and runs a fairly clean shop.
 
The ECAC at the time of the HE schism espoused the belief that
admission standards for athletes should be similar to the rest of the
student body but has no specific rules in place that I know of.  Each
school is charged with watching their own shop and I believe it
works just fine.  The ECAC had no position on athletic scholarships
but a number of the schools were concerned about cost and equity.
Colgate, Union and St. Lawrence have never offered athletic
scholarships and their financial aide is strictly need based like the
Ivy's.  Need based financial aid is not blindly awarded but shaped
by the applicants desirability (many factors are considered) so for
example a student with a wicked slap shot or very high SAT's may
get a better package than another less desirable applicant.  Better
would mean more scholarship and less loan, work study, etc. but the
total award would not exceed the calculated need.  A very needy
student  with both a wicked slap shot and high SAT's might get a
financial aide package competitive with an athletic scholarship that
is not subject to revocation if they suffer a knee injury and can not
make the team.
 
RPI offers the full NCAA limit of 18 athletic scholarships.  I do not
know whether Vermont and Clarkson offer athletics scholarships or
if they do how many they offer.
 
 
Steven Rockey   Cornell '70
Mathematics Librarian
115 White Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY              14853-7901
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