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 E-Mail: [log in to unmask]