BATH -- Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon has gauged a high level of interest in adding “cost of education” stipend for scholarship athletes from his Big Ten peers and anticipates discussing the issue in detail at the conference's football meetings in Chicago later this week.

Brandon doesn’t think the recent NCAA investigation at Ohio State will affect those discussions in any way.

“My sense is there is a high level of interest, across the conference, at really taking a hard look at this cost of education issue because it seems fair,” Brandon said at Eagle Eye Golf Club on Monday.

He said the recent scandal at Ohio State, which has already led to the departure of football coach Jim Tressel and starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor, have not come up in his discussions with other athletic directors.

The theory behind the stipend is to help athletes cover expenses that fall outside an athletic scholarship, such as transportation, clothing or plane tickets to return home during school breaks.

“I don’t see any linkage between those two, unless it’s just someone who’s really not looking at the facts and reading headlines,” Brandon said. “The reality is, whatever the issues were down at Ohio State -- and again, we’ll learn those later -- those have nothing to do with universities providing the costs associated with an education to its scholarship athletes.”

Brandon doesn’t believe Ohio State players trading memorabilia and autographs for tattoos hinders a movement to provide a stipend for what he sees as necessary costs. He did, however, say adding a stipend would help eliminate outside parties providing improper benefits to athletes.

“If you could put a program in place that was workable, it would take out some of the bad elements, the people who try and come in with their money and try to influence families and players,” Brandon said.

Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.