Actual and Necessary Expenses
Actual and necessary expenses are the real, documented costs a school may cover for an athlete in connection with participation, travel, lodging, meals and related costs tied to competition, practice or official school business. They are permitted precisely because they are reimbursements rather than compensation.
Q. What does this cover?
Team travel and lodging, meals in connection with practice and competition, entry fees, and costs tied to official school activity. The test is that the expense is genuinely incurred and genuinely necessary.
Q. Has the House settlement changed this?
Not directly, but the context has. Because schools may now pay athletes directly, the old instinct to treat every dollar as a potential violation no longer applies. Expense rules govern reimbursement; the cap governs compensation.
Q. What about family members?
Coverage for family travel is limited and situation-specific , most commonly permitted around championship events. Covering family costs outside an authorized category is still an extra benefit.
Q. Why does the distinction matter?
Because reimbursements do not count against the revenue-sharing cap and compensation does. Misclassifying one as the other creates both a cap accounting problem and a potential violation.
