College Scholarships

[mustcoach]

As a college head coach of womens soccer and club players GU17 and GU15 that one day MAY want to play college soccer at any level, NCAA D1, 2, 3, NAIA, JUCO and NCCAA, I feel it is my responsibility to keep them up to date on the changing future of college athletics. If you are a junior, then pay very close attention to this. It is coming very fast for your family.

 

As everyone knows the economic times are looking bad. Some optimistic reports have us in a recession that in the near future will level out. Pessimists say the worst is ahead and see it lasting five to eight years. Unfortunately the pessimists have been far more accurate than the optimists.

 

With that said it is all effecting colleges and again at every level. Below is a link to an article from The Guardian written on December 8, 2008. It??™s about what Harvard is facing in making MAJOR cuts. Oh and by the way??¦Harvard has the LARGEST ENDOWMENT FUND OF ANY AMERICAN UNIVERSITY AT 36.9 BILLION DOLLARS!!!

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/0...ances-economics

 

So where am I going with this? You ask??¦How is this something for me, especially parents of a high school freshman? Here is why:

It puts an even greater emphasis on your childs academic performance.

The first cuts being made at schools whose sports are NOT revenue producing is the athletic scholarship money and operating budgets. What does this mean? The only money and how much they get, is going to be based on your childs GPA, SAT and/or ACT scores. The only other money available is state, federal, student loans, outside scholarships.

It effects the number of and type of player coaches/schools are forced to recruit?

Unfortunately it brings to bear economic differences in households and the parents income. Coaches now start to look for this situation:

Families with HIGH income that can write the large check to make up the difference that athletic scholarships once filled.

Families of low income that will qualify for NEED based money from the state, federal gov??™t and even some schools will have need based money that will make up the difference that athletic scholarships once filled.

Players with EXCELLENT ACADEMICS.

Players that are IN STATE so they get the states lottery money for education.

It makes the player from MIDDLE CLASS families the least attractive no matter the skill level. Those players will struggle to get in school because the family makes to little to write the large check or to much to get any need based money from state and gov??™t.

Roster sizes of 22+ are now going to be at 15-18. Maybe even less at smaller schools. I spoke to three coaches, one at Div. 1 and two at Div. 3, today and each one said they are expecting their numbers to go down. Not just because of the TYPE they have to look for, but because of the limited amount of money schools have in their endowments which fund 90% of academic scholarships.

It effects what schools you need to start looking at and applying to them very EARLY!!

With many people having to take pay cuts, income is now going down and tuition costs are still rising at MOST schools??¦this forces families to readjust what school they can afford. Now it??™s not about where I WANT TO GO. It??™s about WHERE CAN I AFFORD TO GO and still get a good education.

It also causes families to make that decision earlier so they apply and get accepted early. Now with all academic money being first come/first serve the earlier you get applications in and financial packages worked out, the better you can make a good educated decision on the best fit. Remember schools academic money is mainly coming from endowments or personal scholarships given by alumni. That money is LIMITED and the early bird catches the worm fits perfectly here. Once it is gone, it is gone.

Also remember this...Coaches are going to start making offers earlier and expecting verbal commitments sooner. It??™s now about WHO CAN I GET SIGNED, NOT WHO DO I WANT TO SIGN!

 

Just some info for parents/players to file away.

[Canesoverhere]

I know you already knew this, but Harvard and the other Ivy League schools don't offer athletic scholarships.

 

Having gone through the process you shared above, I agree with about 90% of what you shared. Times are changing. What you have written is great advice for this year's class and it is likely that things will change again for next year's class. Best advice? 1. Stay informed, become your own expert. 2. It's never too early, once you start you will soon find out your a little too late. 3. Select your school for academics, soccer will follow you.

[Canesoverhere]

a little more validation to your point MUSTCOACH

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28578119/

[shaysoccer7]

Colleges are beginning to not let student athletes stack scholarships what I mean is if yoou get both an academic and athletic you can only pick one. The college I am going to is doing this for the first time this year. ... what a year to graduate sorry people it is getting worse

[BRSoccer]

Colleges are beginning to not let student athletes stack scholarships what I mean is if yoou get both an academic and athletic you can only pick one. The college I am going to is doing this for the first time this year. ... what a year to graduate sorry people it is getting worse

 

 

Can anyone else validate this? Are you saying you cant combine the Hope scholarship and a soccer scholarship? This would not make sense. Academic scholarships are combined with the Hope now, so whats the difference.

[Canesoverhere]

Can anyone else validate this? Are you saying you cant combine the Hope scholarship and a soccer scholarship? This would not make sense. Academic scholarships are combined with the Hope now, so whats the difference.

 

I could understand where a school that may have offered both to students with good grades as a way to build upon a 25 or 50 percent athletic scholarship with additional funds for academics. As there are pressures within the programs to cut back, those "academic" add-ons my not be there in the same volume and as a result, the student-athlete may not be able to be courted as they have historically. I could not see this with the Hope. The Hope is still somewhat of a gift for living in Tennessee and going to school in Tennessee. On the other hand, with a requirement of an ACT score of 21, I wouldn't use the Academic and Scholarship in the same sentence with the Hope. (DANG! I Just Did!!!)

[DonCChatt]

Can anyone else validate this? Are you saying you cant combine the Hope scholarship and a soccer scholarship? This would not make sense. Academic scholarships are combined with the Hope now, so whats the difference.

 

 

 

 

This may be unique to this person's school. As far as I know, you can combine Hope with anything else, including a partial soccer scholarship, if you qualify. You can't stack them up, if doing so puts you over 100% though....

[Canesoverhere]

This may be unique to this person's school. As far as I know, you can combine Hope with anything else, including a partial soccer scholarship, if you qualify. You can't stack them up, if doing so puts you over 100% though....

 

Don, I did not know that. I do know several girls who have many academic scholarships that exceed their tuition and actually 'make money" going to school. By no means are a lot of these situations, but they do exist.

[BRSoccer]

This may be unique to this person's school. As far as I know, you can combine Hope with anything else, including a partial soccer scholarship, if you qualify. You can't stack them up, if doing so puts you over 100% though....

 

 

100% of what?? Tuition, books and housing?

[CCSMAN]

Don, I did not know that. I do know several girls who have many academic scholarships that exceed their tuition and actually 'make money" going to school. By no means are a lot of these situations, but they do exist.

 

This is true from what I have experienced with my son. He has an academic scholarship, the HOPE and a soccer scholarship also but he still has to pay for his books and a few other things because he goes to a private school which is normally more expensive than the public state universities. I do not know of any kids who play soccer that have scholarship money left over after they have paid for their tuition, books and housing but I guess it could happen. Soccer will not get you a full ride at a private university, you will have to have some other scholarship money from academics, etc.

[mustcoach]

This is true from what I have experienced with my son. He has an academic scholarship, the HOPE and a soccer scholarship also but he still has to pay for his books and a few other things because he goes to a private school which is normally more expensive than the public state universities. I do not know of any kids who play soccer that have scholarship money left over after they have paid for their tuition, books and housing but I guess it could happen. Soccer will not get you a full ride at a private university, you will have to have some other scholarship money from academics, etc.

 

I just wanted to add to some of what has been written.

1. It is up to each school if they WILL stack money. To explain this better when a family sends in their FASFA, the school gets official transcripts of grades, SAT/ACT scores then it will determine what academic money, state and federal money, outside scholarships the student applying will get. They in turn send that to the coach and they will then decide, based on what money is available, how much the player is going to get. The coach then sends that to the financial aid office and it's sent as an award package to the family/player. Hence they have stacked it. If you are applying to a NCAA D3 school the coach litterally does NOT see what the player is awarded. It is between the financial aid office and the family exclusively. Very few schools are NOT allowed to stack money. Also YES you can stack them IF your money is more than it costs to attend the school.

2. There are rare cases where a student DID get more money than what it costs and they CAN use it for books and in some cases rent on an apartment, gas for the car...normal expenses for what it would cost to go to school and to live on. I know it's weird, but I have seen it.

3. If you hear of someone getting a full ride to to play soccer in college, then DON'T believe it. Oh they may have gotten enough money from all the above types of sources, Hope, Pell, student loans, academics and athletic, that the parents don't have to pay any money, but soccer didn't cover it all. That is a parent/player in all their pride stretching the truth ALOT!

I thought Canesoverhere made a great point...BE YOUR OWN EXPERT!! Don't wait till your junior year to start researching schools etc... That's like waiting till your junior year to make A's and you made D's in 9th and 10th grades. To late to bring that GPA up to get any real money. Just so you know on the average the money difference between a 3.5 and a 3.8 is roughly $2,500. Do the math and figure out a 3.0 to a 3.8. Encourage your kids to stay sharp on the books. Just don't drive them crazy with it. Sit them down and have a heart to heart about WHY it's important to them and the family to have good grades for college. Help them understand the benefits and why college coaches find the kids with GREAT grades and average to above average talent more appealing.

Hope this helps.