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Post being replied to

What is in "athletic aid" besides Tuition, Room + Board? by HScorpio

It looks like Alabama's "Total Cost of Attendance" for this year is $51k for out of state students. This includes Tuition, Room and Board, and then $6500 of estimated fees for Transportation, Books, and Misc.

So is Alabama (and presumably most Division 1 schools) just giving each scholarship athlete the amount for total cost of attendance? How does a scholarship actually work, anyway - I had assumed the athlete just got a credit equal to the charges from the Bursar on their student account, and that no actual check or money changed hands. Is that not the case?