[su_spacer size=”10″] Power Five conferences, exercising their newly minted autonomy, gave themselves the power to hand out stipends (cash payments) to student athletes beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. No problem, right?

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A recent article by David Jones (pennlive.com) details the differences in calculated cost of attendance between Big Ten schools:

[su_quote style=”modern-light” cite=” The Patriot News” url=”http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/03/penn_state_cost_of_attendance_recruiting.html”]

Based on cost of attendance figures cited by CollegeData.com for the 2014-15 academic calendar, Penn State ranks at the top of the Big Ten with a miscellaneous expenses figure of $4,788. If it stays the same next school year, that means $4,788 of walking-around money during the nine-month period for athletes who receive full grants in aid.

In contrast, Ohio State ranks a mere 8^th in the Big Ten, currently designating a mere $2,454 of tuition cost to incidental expenses – barely half of PSU’s amount. You would expect Urban Meyer, Thad Matta and their messenger, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, to have a say in doubling that number or more by July when schools must designate any changes. Same with Jim Harbaugh and John Beilein at Michigan whose incidental expenses amount is currently designated as a relative pittance – $2,054, 12^thin the conference.

In fact, the 2014-15 disparity ranges all the way down to $1,872, the amount designated for incidental expenses by Michigan State – nearly $3,000 less than Penn State. Again, we would assume Mark Dantonio and Tom Izzo might have already had a word with the MSU trustees and president about this.

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Do we really want a recruiting war based on the dollar amount that universities report as their cost of attendance?