Athletes who leave school early to play on professional sports teams may continue to receive scholarships, according to a university official.
This means student-athletes like Anthony Gonzalez, Antonio Pittman and Ted Ginn Jr., can continue their education despite declaring early for the NFL draft.
“The school will continue to honor their scholarships for this academic year,” said Ohio State Associate Director of Athletics Doug Archie. He also said the scholarships will continue to be active until the student in question signs with a professional team.
Archie said athletic scholarships were worth $19,000 this year for in-state tuition, and $31,000 out of state. Their values change on an annual basis to keep up with the costs of attending the university. Athletic scholarships are good for a maximum of five years out of a six year period.
The OSU football team will have an additional three scholarships at their disposal during their 2007 campaign, according to Sports Information Director Steve Snapp. According to NCAA regulations, Snapp said OSU can have a maximum of 85 scholarship players on the football team at any given time, but only 25 new scholarships can be handed out in a given year.
Josh Lehman can be reached at [email protected].
