Canada West leads the way in CIS student-athlete financial support

EDMONTON – When Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) announced results of an Athletic Financial Aid study relating to its member institutions, figures showed that 38% of the $12.7 million, or $4.75M, came from schools in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA) in 2011-12.

By topping all conferences in 11 high-profile sports and tied atop two others for the percentage of permitted maximum funding, Canada West continues to be a committed, positive leader of post-secondary athletics in Canada.

“I am pleased to see that Canada West is a leader in providing athletic financial support to student-athletes,” said Canada West President Basil Hughton. “We continue trying to find ways of maximizing support for all people who are a part of our athletic programs.”

Canada West ranks at the top in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s wrestling, men’s and women’s cross country and field hockey, with women’s hockey and men’s track & field equal as leaders.

Overall, Canada West schools dished out 48% of their allowable totals, well ahead of the OUA, RSEQ and AUS.

CIS data reveals that in 2011-12 Canadian universities together provided $12,732,190 in athletic scholarship money to CIS student-athletes.

The total amount has gone from $6.9M in 2006-07 to $11,571,144 in 2010-11. In 2011-12, 58% of athletic scholarship dollars went to male student-athletes, who represent 54% of all CIS student-athletes.

In 2011-12, a record 2,619 CIS student-athletes (24%) achieved an academic average of 80% or higher while competing for their university.