The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s decision to allow schools to offer Division I athletes full cost-of-attendance scholarships is an appropriate form of compensation for students who dedicate their time to athletic pursuits.

This past Saturday the five wealthiest conferences — Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12 and Southeastern — voted to extend scholarships that would cover transportation and miscellaneous costs to players. This would be in addition to the scholarships they now receive that fund tuition, room, board and book expenses.

After all the lengths big-sport schools go through to recruit players and convince them to come to their schools, it should not be expected that the athletes are then required to pay to attend said school. If a school really wants a player on its team, it should invest in the student and cover the athlete’s total expenses.

Once athletes do arrive on campus, they are then required to practice for hours a day and are prohibited from getting a job. Their class and team commitments stand in the way. This differs from students who aren’t student athletes and can juggle a part-time job with their extracurricular and class commitments. Covering transportation and miscellaneous costs fills this loss of opportunity for income.

Considering the substantial revenue that comes from athletics for big-sport schools — SU brought in nearly $88 million last year — extending scholarships seems like a fair compromise as opposed to cutting players a check. For now, that is.

Players have been outspoken in the past that they deserve compensation for commercial use of their images, and while that decision is still years away this is a step toward a solution.

Big-sport schools continuing to invest in their players are likely lead to a happier athletic experience for both fans and players. This is an appropriate measure to compensate athletes, but while still maintaining their status as students.