Cornell scales back on athletic aid

Over the past couple of years, we have written about how the Ivy League's changing financial aid landscape might impact athletic competitiveness.

Indeed, Penn President Amy Gutmann said last year that the greatest challenge facing Robin Harris, who became Ivy chairwoman on July 1, would be "maintaining and promoting the Ivy concept of the scholar-athlete."

So this story from yesterday's Cornell Daily Sun struck us as especially interesting:

After coming under scrutiny by Ivy League officials earlier this month, Cornell has retreated from parts of an initiative launched in November 2008 that gave more lucrative financial aid awards to athletes, among other groups of students that the University deemed "enrollment priorities."
While the initiative was aimed at aggressively recruiting students of academic excellence, diversity and athleticism, the Ivy League saw the inclusion of athletes in the program as a violation of the league’s ban on athletic scholarships.

Sun "arms race"

(via IvyGate)