The limit is the "incidental" expenses under the university's published cost of attendance, and is typically around $1000 to $2000 per year. Those caps don't apply to a non-scholarship athlete.

So a scholarship athlete can get paid the full cost of attendance or work under the NIL framework. If they want to do anything outside the NIL framework, they're limited to about $1000 a year.

A non-scholarship athlete doesn't get the scholarship money or full cost of attendance, but they're also not limited in what they can earn or be paid for things that technically fall outside the NIL umbrella. If they can find someone who will pay them a six figure number, and it technically doesn't comply with the NIL rules, they're free to do that.

Basically my point is that scholarship athletes have to stay between the two white NIL lines. non-scholarship athletes can take course they want. I'm not saying it's better to be a non-scholarship player. It's not. What I AM saying is that there are more restrictions on scholarship athletes that don't apply to non-scholarship athletes.