AMES, Iowa — Following the recent U.S. Supreme Court Alston vs. NCAA decision and approval from the Big 12 Conference Board of Directors, the Iowa State Athletics Department will unveil the Cyclone Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Program for the 2022-23 academic year, Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard announced today.

The Alston verdict, coupled with a recent change in NCAA legislation, now allows student-athletes the opportunity to receive up to $5,980 per academic year as financial awards related to classroom success. The Big 12 Board of Directors approved its members to provide these incentives to student-athletes in all sports who are receiving athletically related aid.

“The Cyclone Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Program will afford the opportunity for Iowa State student-athletes to accrue incentives, based upon their performance in the classroom each semester, that will be paid to them upon graduation from Iowa State University,” Pollard said. “We believe that the intent of the academic incentives should be tied directly to our department’s core mission of educating and graduating our student-athletes.

“By providing these incentives at the time of graduation, we believe it will allow our student-athletes to get off to a great start when they move beyond Iowa State and into the next phase of their life,” he added. “Studies have shown that the value of a college degree can add another $2 million in compensation over one’s lifetime, and it is our desire to reward those Cyclone student-athletes who are investing in themselves by successfully completing their degrees.”

While details of the ISU plan are still being finalized, Cyclone scholarship student-athletes potentially could each receive up to $23,920 upon graduation, provided they also maintain good standing on campus and within the community.

In the most-recent NCAA graduation metrics, Iowa State’s institutional Graduation Success Rate score of 92 percent ranked second in the Big 12 Conference, and nine programs recorded perfect marks of 100 percent.