STATESBORO - Georgia Southern Athletics announced on Friday that it plans to make additional investments in the student-athlete experience with financial awards due to the Supreme Court's decision last June in the Alston vs. NCAA case. All Eagle student-athletes are eligible, whether on scholarship or not, and award amounts will be determined based on several factors, including eligibility, retention, community service, APEX participation and academic excellence. The program will begin this fall, with awards distributed for the first time in January.

The Alston decision gave universities the option to provide student-athletes with additional education-related benefits such as computers and direct financial support in the form of academic achievement awards, with a maximum of $5,980 per year and Georgia Southern will take advantage of this opportunity to make additional investments in the student-athlete experience. Presidents and Chancellors of the Sun Belt confirmed its member institutions could provide the academic awards at their discretion.

"Our mission to relentlessly cultivate a championship ecosystem is strengthened by being able to distribute Alston monies to our student-athletes who meet the requirements outlined for distribution," Director of Athletics Jared Benko said. "These dollars, in addition to our partnership with Opendorse and the proactive approach we have taken in the name-image-likeness (NIL) space through our APEX program, have further positioned our student-athletes for success in and out of the classroom. There is no better time than the present to be an Eagle."

Georgia Southern Athletics was already assisting with educational items from the NCAA Student-Athlete Assistance Fund, which went toward additional class equipment, summer programming, study abroad, campus parking permits, custom suits for interviews and internships, and other benefits.

Georgia Southern has approximately 400 student-athletes competing in 17 NCAA-sponsored, Division I sports.