The NDSU athletic department will begin distributing educational-related financial awards to student-athletes in the 2024-25 academic year, NDSU director of athletics Matt Larsen announced Thursday, April 18.
Awards from the NDSU Graduating Champions Fund are made possible by a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in NCAA v. Alston. At NDSU, the awards will be supported by both an endowment established by several donors and annual, private donations. This program is expected to award more than $1.5 million in the first year.
Larsen said all NDSU student-athletes will have the opportunity to earn the Graduating Champions Award, regardless of scholarship or walk-on status. Annual amounts ranging from $3,000 to $5,980 will be determined by academic performance with award levels based on semester and cumulative grade-point averages.
Qualifying student-athletes would receive half of their semester award during the following term, and the other half will be deferred until after graduation or exhausting eligibility as an incentive for student-athletes to complete their degree at NDSU.
“Graduating Champions will provide long-lasting financial support for our student-athletes. Our student-athletes have traditionally excelled in the classroom earning a four-year average, cumulative GPA of 3.40,” Larsen said. “This success was a primary motivating factor for our donors to not only support and reward the academic success of our student-athletes, but also incentivize both retention and graduation at NDSU. Historically, student-athletes graduating from NDSU continue to have positive impacts in the community and contribute to the regional workforce.”
While NDSU continues to fully fund athletic scholarships to NCAA maximum limits in all men’s and women’s sports, the Graduating Champions Award will add to the overall financial support student-athletes can receive while at NDSU, which includes full cost of attendance, and name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities.
The NDSU Exchange and The Green and The Gold Collective, established in 2023, provide NIL opportunities for student-athletes to engage with businesses and individuals.
NDSU has also partnered with The NIL Store powered by Campus Ink to provide marketing and merchandising opportunities for Bison student-athletes, including personalized digital locker rooms with officially licensed apparel and jerseys.
April 18, 2024