[OCcardinal]

Most scholarships are partial.  Maybe 30-50%.  Did you account for that?

Was thinking that each team has a certain allotment so if a team has say 7.5 scholarships that are allocated to 10 athletes, it would still cost $80k * 7.5. Thus, 400 scholarship equivalents but more than 400 athletes may be receiving scholarship aid. All back of the envelope to answer SkiBum's question that the majority of the cost (tuition) is likely just accounting.

Stanford's 2021-22 Equity in Athletics disclosure shows "athletically-related student aid" of $28,909,727, which is strangely lower than the 30.51 shown on Stanford athletics 2021-22 annual report.  (You can find Stanford's Equity in Athletics report here:  https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/institution/search).  The report shows 832 unique participants in Stanford varsity sports for that year, so using the Equity in Athletics figure that is an average of $34,747.27 in sports-specific aid per participant. Of course Stanford's general financial aid is very generous so I presume many Stanford athletes also receive non-athletically-related aid.

As far as what might be included in that number, Equity in Athletics defines "athletically-related student aid" as "any scholarship, grant, or other form of financial assistance, offered by an institution, the terms of which require the recipient to participate in a program of intercollegiate athletics at the institution."  The instructions indicate that would include not only academic scholarships but also any housing or meal plans provided by the university.  Don't know what the Annual Report might add on top of that.

[OCcardinal]

Most scholarships are partial.  Maybe 30-50%.  Did you account for that?

Was thinking that each team has a certain allotment so if a team has say 7.5 scholarships that are allocated to 10 athletes, it would still cost $80k * 7.5. Thus, 400 scholarship equivalents but more than 400 athletes may be receiving scholarship aid. All back of the envelope to answer SkiBum's question that the majority of the cost (tuition) is likely just accounting.

Stanford's 2021-22 Equity in Athletics disclosure shows "athletically-related student aid" of $28,909,727, which is strangely lower than the 30.51 shown on Stanford athletics 2021-22 annual report.  (You can find Stanford's Equity in Athletics report here:  https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/institution/search).  The report shows 832 unique participants in Stanford varsity sports for that year, so using the Equity in Athletics figure that is an average of $34,747.27 in sports-specific aid per participant. Of course Stanford's general financial aid is very generous so I presume many Stanford athletes also receive non-athletically-related aid.

As far as what might be included in that number, Equity in Athletics defines "athletically-related student aid" as "any scholarship, grant, or other form of financial assistance, offered by an institution, the terms of which require the recipient to participate in a program of intercollegiate athletics at the institution."  The instructions indicate that would include not only academic scholarships but also any housing or meal plans provided by the university.  Don't know what the Annual Report might add on top of that.