Student-athletes who attend the University of Maryland will be offered lifetime scholarships in all sports, revenue and non-revenue, the Washington Post reports. Lifetime scholarships. Even if their eligibility runs out. Even if they are injured and can no longer play.
Univ. of Maryland football team, 1964 (Digital Collections of U.Md. via Flickr)
That means, if student-athletes who are receiving athletic scholarships decide to take a few years off—to play on a professional team, raise a family, join the military, or whatever—they can come back to the university anytime in the future and complete a degree, even if they are no longer eligible to play the sport for which they received the scholarship.
It is historic and just a little unbelievable, but we applaud the University of Maryland as the first Division I school to provide a “lifetime degree guarantee.” Here’s the language from the school’s official press release:
Beginning in November of 2014-15, “The Maryland Way Guarantee” will provide all incoming student-athletes with a multi-year scholarship guarantee. Pursuant to this program, should a student-athlete exhaust his or her eligibility prior to graduating, Maryland will guarantee his or her aid will continue through graduation. If a student-athlete is injured and unable to compete, we will guarantee his or her aid will continue through graduation.
“Our vision is to be the best intercollegiate athletic program while producing graduates who are prepared to serve as leaders in the local, state and global communities,” director of athletics Kevin Anderson said in the release. “We are confident ‘The Maryland Way Guarantee’ will further demonstrate our commitment to our student-athletes’ pursuit of a college degree.”
This is a proud moment for the university and all Marylanders, I believe. The fine print may still need to come to light, such as how this’ll work for students who transfer to other institutions. But for most student-athletes at the university, I can’t imagine a more beneficial directive.
As for non-athletes, who may deserve academic scholarships more than any returning former student-athlete, we can’t find any of those details. Stay tuned, but right now, this seems to be the right thing to do for student-athletes, especially in sports that don’t often lead to professional athletic careers.
