The Patriot League conference announced Monday that it will permit member schools to offer athletic scholarships to football players beginning in the fall of 2013.

The league said that its council of university presidents had voted to change a longstanding policy that barred financial aid based on athletic merit in football. Football is the only one of Georgetown’s 29 athletic programs that competes in the Patriot League rather than the Big East. The university has competed in the league as an associate member since 2001.

“The introduction of this financial aid model for football will strengthen the Patriot League’s ability to compete for outstanding student-athletes while continuing to uphold the high academic standards of the League and its member institutions,” Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich wrote in a press release.

Georgetown, whose 8-3 record last season was its best league finish in a decade, plans to remain in the Patriot League, though it remains unclear whether the new policy will alter the football team’s strictly need-based aid policy.

“Georgetown will continue its membership in the Patriot League in the sport of football and explore all of its options, including our ability to compete as a need-based program,” University President John J.DeGioia wrote in a statement.

All Patriot League schools — including football-only members Georgetown and Fordham, as well as non-football members Army and Navy — participated in the decision. The League agreed to keep voting process details confidential. In the past, DeGioia, who played football at Georgetown in the late 1970s, has indicated that he is opposed to adding athletic scholarships.

“I am not supportive of moving to a scholarship program,” DeGioia told The Georgetown Voice last fall. “I don’t believe that fits the ethos and the culture of Georgetown.”

The issue of athletic scholarships for football came to the forefront after Fordham was made ineligible for conference title consideration in football in 2010 when it began allowing athletic scholarships in its football program.

“I think this is a great decision for the Patriot League,” Fordham Executive Director of Athletics Frank McLaughlin wrote in a press release. “Merit-based aid has allowed Fordham to renew rivalries with Army and Villanova and to enhance our schedule with the addition of schools such as Navy and Connecticut, and I’m sure that the other Patriot League schools will find the same benefits.”

In light of the change, the League will reconsider Fordham’s eligibility for this year’s championship in the spring, according to its press release.

The change could also affect other sports, as the Patriot League release noted that any school that adds to its current football budget would be required to allocate a proportional amount of funds to its women’s sports teams.

League officials also indicated that the change in merit aid may be a precursor to expansion, which is unsurprising in the current turbulent climate of college football conference realignment. In the last year, several major athletic conferences have added new members and reorganized in attempts to create powerhouse football leagues, sending basketball-centric conferences scrambling for members.

“The expansion piece is probably the next thing on our agenda, at least for discussion,” Femovich said. “I think there would be some attraction to adding one or two members on the football side as well as one or two members on the full-member side.”

Despite the difficult decisions ahead, DeGioia remains optimistic.

“We remain committed to our goal of providing our student athletes with an unparalleled academic experience and an athletically competitive football team,” he wrote.