Hmm thinking about it. He did earn it.

But it effects his reputation and his father's reputation. With some smart maneuvering he could use this to his advantage. He could ask dad to donate a similar same amount scholarship to somebody that needs it. He needs to be careful with flaunting any money he has. If he works hard and is modest he can prove himself to others.

...some questioned if the cash-strapped school should pay for the education of the son of a man worth an estimated $475 million...

Do they also 'question' when the school pays for the education of sons of rich white men?

Racism is alive and well in 2012. We just hide it a little better.

Actually, IMHO, there should be an upper cutoff for scholarships. If Daddy's rich, and the kid doesn't need it, why should we pay for him while refusing a poor student that DOES need it?

Grats to the kid. I'm glad he's going to school, and I know from personal experience that his parents must be very proud of him earning this scholarship.

He's got a lot of expectations to live up too, now, so for jealous people to try and tear him down before he even starts is BS.

Contrary tp popular opinion, parents do not owe their offspring a free ride to college, no matter how much money they have. Yeah, If you are rich as hell it's a nice thing to do, but really, 18 and out the door is all you *legally* are responsible for.

I worked my way from community college to a 4 year school, finally getting my bachelors when my eldest was 6. When the time came she paid her own way with scholarships. I fed her, housed her, and bought snacks :)

I'm not poor, but I'm in no shape to pay my kids way to Disney Land, let alone college. So all this I'm entitled to a free ride because Mom and Dad have money krep just blows my mind. Who's money is it? The adults who worked their tailfeathers off to earn it, that's who!

What a load of crap. He earned it, he should keep it, end of story. From a PR stand-point, his dad could donate money for a stand-along scholarship, but its not a requirement. This kid is trying to stand on his own two feet, and I applaud him for it. I'm tired of this "but its not fair" argument about everything (I'm talking to you 99%ers!). Survival of the fittest should be the norm, as its the only way that our world stays strong. I've had nothing handed to me and I own all of my successes AND all of my failures. It's the way that grown-ups live...

He might have earned it, but he should turn it down, andlet the school, which is cash-stapped, offer the scholarship to somekid who needs it. Celebrities almost never write big checks. Racist? Name some rich white person who did this?

Division 1 schools like UCLA give out lots of athletic scholarships. I'm not sure that taking the scholarship away from Justin Combs will put it in some other, more "deserving" student's hands. Presumably, UCLA gave Justin Combs that scholarship because he'll help them beat USC this fall.

Further, if the question is about his Daddy's wealth, we'd first need to know what kind of charitable work Sean Combs has already performed (and I'll bet it's considerable). But Sean Combs isn't going to UCLA, his son is. So I don't know what Sean Combs' wealth has to do with all this.

Not really DrCos, many kids of rich people attending various colleges tend to be legacies meaning their parents usually donate.

> Racism is alive and well in 2012. We just hide
> it a little better.

Preposterous. OF COURSE "they also 'question' when the school pays for the education of sons of rich white"[s].

This guy has built a career in several industries through a pretense of wealth. THAT, not race, is what makes this case particularly galling.

There are plenty of other cases that have garnered attention.

Your comment is just inexcusably cynical.

Well, if he earned it, then it is his. Mind, that scholarship is a way for a college to say "attend here, not somewhere else." Apparently, they want him to the tune of 54k. Maybe they think he'll be a nice philanthropic alumnus with deep pockets? It's the school's choice on how to spend money, but it's his choice to accept or not - for whatever reasons.

That said, he could show some real class by doing something like saying, "Hey, I earned this and the scholarship made me decide to go here because they really wanted me. But I'd like to give half of it..."

Whether he said, "to reduce student fees all around," or to somebody else, or to the society for cute puppies, it'd look classy and set a good example.

Would this be nice? Yes! Required? No. Should we all probably mind our own business/philanthropy/ethics more than his? Yup.

One other note. His DAD may be rich, but maybe he wants to earn his own way. That too, is something to be proud of. If that is why he wants the scholarship, so that it's HIS education and HE paid for it, then more power to him. I don't claim to know what sort of relationship he has with his dad, but I know some parents who jerk their (grown) kids around by means of their wallets.

Contrary tp popular opinion, parents do not owe their offspring a free ride to college, no matter how much money they have. Yeah, If you are rich as hell it's a nice thing to do, but really, 18 and out the door is all you *legally* are responsible for.

You'd think so, but college kids signing up for finacial aid find out their parents worth is figured into 'their' need regardless of whether or not the parents are helping out. Also parents have to keep their kids on their insurance until 23 if they attend collages, and if your divorced in some jurisdictions parents have to pay child support to 22, and part of college beyond the CS

Um, folks? it's an athletic scholarship, paid for not by the state or the university, but by the big money boosters of the football program.

The only person he's "taking" this scholarship away from is some kid who probably signed with USC or Oregon, or maybe with some football happy junior college and will make the jump to a major program as a junior.

Lane Kiffin and his staff must think Justin Combs has the juice to perform at a level appropriate their program. It's their scholarship to do with as they see fit.

Here is where it all gets tricky. If parents have a high income, students are cut off from many forms of financial aid and student loans. On the other hand, parents have no obligation to pay for their children's education. When I suggest closing this loophole, and either disregarding parental income or forcing parents to pay, I am selfish and entitled. Yet, when someone earns a scholarship and doesn't take his parents money, he is selfish and entitled. I don't think that you can have it both ways.

I still feel this way even though I am now on the other side of the fence. My boys scored well enough on the SAT to go to just about any school. They have earned full ride scholarships to "lesser schools" but it would take a serious financial commitment to attend a big name school. Luckily, they decided to go to less prestigious and less expensive schools for undergraduate degrees.

People have suggested that the student give the money back. How is that his decision? Seems to me that it is up to his daddy - like other university decisions truly are as long as parents can choose about providing financial aid for their student.

Athletic scholarships are compensation for doing a job. Sports are a huge moneymaker for schools like this, and they've determined that Diddy Jr. adds a lot of value.

If he decided next semester to stop playing ball and just focus on his math degree, he'd lose the scholarship, right? So how is he not earning it? He's not playing Frisbee on the lawn between classes. He's going to train hard.

If my parents are rich, do I have less right to earn a salary for work I'm doing?

BTW, celebrities get a lot of stuff free for doing much less, just because companies want their brands associated with them, and that's not newsworthy. The richer you are, the more people give you stuff.

Here's the really ironic thing. In order to play varsity football for UCLA or any other Division I school, you pretty much have to be on scholarship. Under rules that were in effect two decades ago, Combs could pay his own way and play as a walk-on. But the NCAA decided that having walk-ons was an unfair advantage for big-money schools, like UCLA. So they severely restricted how much walk-ons can play. Ergo, you now need to be on a scholarship even if, monetarily, you don't need it.

Justin Combs is (more likely than not) going to be a very rich, successful man his entire life. Whether he rides his Daddy's coattails or simply continues to show the same work ethic (probably learned from somewhere, like his successful if annoying dad) and talent that earned him this scholarship, he's going to have a lot of money. I'd lay odds (given that he seems like a decent young man and his father is flamboyantly generous with charitable giving) that he will be happy to share some of that money with his alma matter, as many rich, successful men do. I'd wager that that $54,000 is going to come back to UCLA many times over, just from Justin's own checkbook, if he's happy with the school. Never mind all the revenue that UCLA football brings in. Yeah, UCLA got a bargain.

But, yeah, it's kind of a shame. Someone needs to take poor Justin aside and tell him that celebrities' children aren't supposed to go earn anything on their own, especially not anything requiring work and merit. Doesn't he know that he can make $54,000 in a weekend by "hosting" nightclubs and acting like a Kardashian?

Your comment is just inexcusably cynical.
Thanks for not disappointing me, Cridster.

Maybe on your planet there is no racism, but here in the real world, it is alive and well. Ask the people of Sanford, FL.

> Um, folks? it's an athletic scholarship,
> paid for not by the state or the university,
> but by the big money boosters of the football
> program.

Um... Oh.

But still! Sports is a perverting force in school administration, to wit:

> Ergo, you now need to be on a scholarship
> even if, monetarily, you don't need it.

See?

> Maybe on your planet there is no racism

Did anyone SAY that? Did anyone say "There is no racism?" Or are you pathologically inclined to presume the whole world is satanically evil?

You can live that way if you want. No one will interrupt your melodrama.

I am just going to throw this out there: a 3.75 GPA from a competitive Prep school is impressive given (and just taking a guess) his curriculum most likely did not include such things as Ceramics or Shop but consisted almost entirely of classes that would be AP/Honors in a public high school. This alone would earn him a scholarship, let alone for sports. And, again guessing, I would be willing to wager that ol’ Diddy put particular emphasis on his son’s academic achievement. I am sure business calculations went into the decision to offer him a scholarship—just like it does with every other child of a big name family/alumni that gets offered a scholarship (who, incidentally, probably attended a competitive Prep school). But overall, given the evidence, his scholarship was well earned.

If the scholarship in question doesn't have an income cutoff requirement, then I think he earned it and has every right to keep it. Scholarships aren't just a chunk of change to help a student with education costs, they are also an indicator that the selected student has demonstrated promise in a particular area, whether athletic or academic, and the funding source has deemed that student worthy of their endorsement.

P.S. Just on a side note, I wouldn't be able to afford a 360,000 house, let alone a 360,000 car! Keep dreaming, Mel.

Ask the people of Sanford, FL.

Is that where they're trying to lynch a part-black guy who was getting his head smashed in?

How do we know Justin Combs is worth it? Were I UCLA, I'd have given him the scholarship even if he could barely carry the ball. My other hand would be out to his dad. And Dad is going to pay. Ironically, this will mean MORE money for UCLA to spread around, so it's a win-win regardless.

You can live that way if you want. No one will interrupt your melodrama.

Your poignant and constructive commentary provides all the melodrama I need.

Oh, and my cynicism comes from empirical observation.

I think anyone child of a hundred-millionaire is really stupid to take money from a school. And the parent is stupid for letting him. Not good in the PR department.

The school is pretty stupid for offering it, too. Doesn't help their requests for money from alums, that they give it away to the super-rich.

Both my sons graduated from a "competitive private prep" school and a 3.75 GPA puts him in the middle of the class.

Most of these schools have Advanced Placement courses and International Baccalaureate courses that raise the graduating GPA to 6.00.

He evidently did well enough to get selected as an All Star in his league, so it's not obviously without merit.

But regardless, as the father of 3 college graduates, I can tell you that you ARE expected to pay for their undergraduate degree, or at least participate financially to their expectations.

So the kid must _forever_ ride on his dad's reputation and coat-tails?

If he earned the scholarship, good for him. Let him go out, play his little game, and see if he can do something with his drive and his gift.

How many of you wanted to ride on your dad's money, reputation, and all of that forever when you were 17?