Liberty University announced Tuesday that it will become the first athletic program in the FCS to provide full “cost of attendance” dollars to its student-athletes.

The decision is on the heels of the Power Five conferences’ agreement to shell out more money to student-athletes for expenses that go beyond tuition, fees and books, like travel expenses, academic supplies and off-campus meals.

The added expenditures are expected to be around $2,000 per full scholarship, which would cost a university around $126,000 a year for 63 football scholarships.

It’s not an expense Idaho State coach Mike Kramer expects to have anytime soon.

“I will retire before I find cost of attendance for our players at the FCS level in the Big Sky Conference,” Kramer said.

Kramer’s reasoning is simple enough. Where would Idaho State find the money?

“No athletic department in this conference makes enough money to have enough laying around to give to the student-athlete, so the student-athlete can feel like they’re not exploited,” Kramer said.

Division I schools outside the Power Five can decide which sports to pay cost of attendance for. But Kramer doesn’t feel like a football player at Idaho State should be treated any differently than someone on the volleyball team.

“Why should the privileged be more privileged? That’s the way I look at it,” Kramer said. “Because if you’re playing a sport, playing a game, you’re not working. No one says we work football. No one says we work track and field. So you’re playing a sport and you’re getting tuition, room, board, books and fees. That’s plenty.”

One way a university like Idaho State could possibly afford to hand out the full cost of attendance is by cutting non-revenue sports like golf or tennis. Kramer, however, doesn’t view that as an option.

“I wouldn’t coach (if that happened) because that’s crazy,” Kramer said. “We need all the sports to make a university experience.”

North Dakota State athletic director Matt Larsen said on KFGO in North Dakota that the Bison, the four-time defending FCS football champions, are considering paying additional stipends for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball so they can stay competitive in recruiting.

So what if Montana or Montana State, two Big Sky rivals of the Bengals, decide to cover the full cost of attendance in football?

“I don’t really care because it’s not an issue,” Kramer said. “Because most of the time in the Big Sky Conference nobody recruits against anybody else. We stay out of each other’s way because we don’t have enough money recruiting-wise to be able to compete and lose on signing day. So we steer away from each other every single day.”

ISU FOOTBALL NOTES

— Injury status for two key defensive players

ISU starting strong safety Taison Manu missed Idaho State’s practice on Tuesday. Manu, third on ISU’s defense with 110 tackles last season, was wearing a boot on his right foot.

While Manu just suffered an injury, Idaho State freshman Mario Jenkins appears to be getting healthier. Jenkins, a projected starting middle linebacker, had been wearing a boot on his right foot for all of spring practice, but the 6-foot-1, 229-reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year was boot-free Tuesday.

Idaho State does not comment on injuries and it is unclear if Jenkins or Manu will return for any of the spring.