According to a report from FootballScoop.com, Liberty will be the first FCS program to cover cost of attendance for student athletes. The report also states “Liberty has begun to inform their student athletes of the decision and will begin making the payments this Fall.”
Given Liberty University’s financial state and its FBS aspirations, this should not come as a surprise. Liberty is clearly sending a message to potential FBS conferences with this move. Whether that’s the Sun Belt, MAC, or Conference-USA remains to be seen. In the short term, it provides the Flames with the ability and resources to dominate at the Big South and maybe even FCS level.
It will also be interesting to see what the Big South decides to do with the cost of attendance. Most Big South schools will be unable to support it, which will give schools like Liberty a decided advantage when it comes to recruiting. Schools like Charleston Southern and Presbyterian are already facing an uphill battle when it comes to recruiting against the likes of Liberty and Coastal Carolina, and this is just one more hurdle that they would have to overcome.
According to the FootballScoop report, the project is estimated to cost nearly $2 million.
We have reached out to Liberty Athletic Director Jeff Barber, but have not received a statement from him at this time. If we do, we will update this story.
