Why are there no scholarship D4s ??

That question, or variations of it, is perhaps the most commonly asked about D4. At the moment there are no scholarship D4 teams, although it is not prohibited. Schools simply don't need to award them. The D4 rule book is as follows:

No player (I say player because student-athlete isn't applicable to D4) may be on the payroll of a member institution, nor may they receive gifts or compensation from anyone that is.

End of rule book. We figured one rule was enough.

At the heart of D4 philosophy is athletics and making money from it. The more rules you have the more likely you are to need a compliance office to make sure that taking a letter to the post office for a player is not a violation of some kind. Boosters, Alums and "Friends of the Program" are the ones that pay the bills by coming to the games. So with only one rule, these people pretty much run the programs. Which is how we want it at this level.

A key ingredient to any efficient program is to not ask too many questions, especially when it comes to money and where it came from. Since the players are not being compensated by member schools, or by anyone that is, we preserve the integrity of the sport and amateur status of the players. If a Booster wants to buy a kid a Lexus, we don't care. The IRS then becomes our compliance office. Whether you have to walk around campus or roll in an $80,000 ride, it in no way effects the outcome of sporting events so it is not a concern.

Most of the players in the LNCUTMV have Lexus, Hummers, Escalades and the like. However, Bugtussle State Alums tend not to be so affluent but you will still see a few tricked out Kias and Hyundais with spinners around campus. Schools have the option of simply looking the other way by claiming that they don't support such practices so everybody wins.

An unwritten rule of D4 is that "if tuitions paid, you're cleared to play". High GPAs don't put as many people in the stands as a 30 ppg average player does.