Eleven NCAA Division I Conferences and NCAA Create Fund to Settle "Grant-in-Aid" Damages Lawsuit

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Apr 07, 2017, 15:00 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., April 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP regarding the NCAA GIA Settlement Fund:

Eleven NCAA Division I conferences and the NCAA have agreed to create a $208,664,445 fund for the benefit of current and former NCAA Division I FBS football and men's and women's basketball student athletes in order to settle the damages part of the "grant-in-aid" class action lawsuit, In Re: National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletic Grant-in-Aid Cap Antitrust Litigation, it was announced today. If Court approved, the settlement will fully resolve that portion of the case in which the plaintiffs claimed they had suffered monetary damages as a result of NCAA bylaws defining the amount of athletics-based grants-in-aid.

The settlement comes two years after certain Division I conferences agreed to permit provision of full cost-of-attendance athletics-based benefits to NCAA student-athletes, and is consistent with NCAA rules allowing athletics-based financial aid up to and including the entire cost of attendance, as defined by each NCAA member institution consistent with federal regulations. The settlement does not resolve the portion of the case that seeks purely injunctive relief to change current NCAA Division I rules concerning permissible grant-in-aid benefits over and above the full cost of attendance.

"We are pleased to have found common ground on a fair process for former and current student athletes to benefit from this settlement based on the cost of attending college," said Donald Remy, NCAA Chief Legal Officer. "The proposed agreement is consistent with the current Division I rules that allow athletics-based aid up to the full cost of obtaining a college education."

Proposed settlement class members include Division I Men's and Women's Basketball, and Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football student-athletes who received full athletics-based scholarships in those sports during the academic years 2009-2010 through 2016-2017. Class members will be eligible to receive a distribution if they attended schools that are providing, or have indicated by June 1, 2017, they will be providing, cost-of-attendance athletics-based financial aid in the 2017-2018 academic year. The funds will be disbursed to class members in a manner that ensures that class members receive benefits potentially up to, but not beyond cost-of-attendance. "We are pleased with the settlement and look forward to distributing the fund to student athletes," said Steve Berman, Co-Lead Interim Class Counsel.

For more information on the settlement, please visit the settlement website at www.GrantInAidSettlement.com

SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP