I have a 2021 daughter. She's applied to all D3, except 1 D2. Every school that she has got into (no rejections yet) so far has offered some form of one of the following: Dean's Scholarship, President's Scholarship, Trustee's Scholarship, etc. Each school has a different name for it, but they all have the same effect. They reduce the sticker price down to $30k, plus or minus 1-2k. It's the been the same at the higher ranked schools and the lower ranked schools. Is your experience the same? Do all schools do this? Does it even matter what test scores and grades are? Are the sticker prices just for foreign nationals and people with really bad academics or something? Also, does anyone have any experience asking for more?
DIII and Financial Aid - what's your experience?
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My daughter applied *early action* to MANY MANY DI schools but only 2 DIII schools (MIT, CMU); so far she has received 15 acceptances and 2 deferred decisions with many more to come between now and March. Since she does NOT qualify for *needs-based* financial aid, most of the acceptances have included *significant* merit scholarships which seems to max out around 50%-55% off *tuition only* some of which is out-of-state tuition at public universities which is usually 3 times as much as in-state tuition, but as you know private universities do not have different tuition rates. Some offers from private universities have also included some other scholarships; e.g. $3K/year for graduating from a Catholic high school, $3K/year legacy scholarship, a one-time $1K for an early virtual visit, etc.
There are also MANY other independent scholarships out there; e.g. my daughter is a *semi-finalist* for a $30K/year DoD scholarship + annual summer internship + annual salary and benefits which would essentially pay her to go to college for 4 years and then guarantee a civilian job afterwards since it requires a 6-year commitment like the Military Academies. FINGERS-CROSSED! ;-)
I hope that helps.
Thank you. We won't qualify for need based either. At least not the first year. I'm wondering if she should add a couple more reach schools. Like, if she's in the 25th percentile instead of the 75th percentile, will she still get these 50% "scholarships." There's one top 10 school in particular that keeps contacting her that would never believe she would be able to get into, but if it's going to cost us the same as schools that are ranked 40-80, it might be worth looking into.
My daughter qualified for academic scholarships with amounts similar to what you are talking. But I know that several of her teammates did not. Most qualified for something, but many were less. Some much less. I'm not sure how many people pay the actual "sticker" price. My guess is not many. But few qualify for the best offers either.
My DD got nothing from her school. Her school is a state school so that can't play with the monies like a private institution. Actually, it has the most expensive tuition in the UT school system. However, the school gives out lots of $$$ for kids that get 34 ACT and up, but it's not automatic and no one knows the methodology in giving scholarships.
Her tuition is $6955 + supplemental fees per semester. It's the apartment that is killing me at $800/mo. She is very fortunate to be getting a $5K a semester in a private endowment for 4 years. If I wanted to I could be telling other softball parents that she got a 72% scholarship.
Her tuition is $6955 + supplemental fees per semester. It's the apartment that is killing me at $800/mo. She is very fortunate to be getting a $5K a semester in a private endowment for 4 years. If I wanted to I could be telling other softball parents that she got a 72% scholarship.
One of the few silver-linings of 2020 was most if not all schools were test-optional since most SAT/ACT exams were cancelled MANY times (4 times for my daughter).
FWIW, the *smallest* merit scholarship from a public university that my daughter was offered was $1K/year from Texas A&M and the largest was from GMU with ASU close behind. The largest merit scholarships were from private universities but obviously, their tuition was significantly more than public universities even with out-of-state tuition.
Another factor to consider is that some public universities have *major* quotas per state law for in-state acceptances vs out-of-state; e.g. UNC-Chapel Hill is 82% in-state, UVA is 75% in-state, etc.
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Some other factors to consider is that many schools have a separate application process with additional essays and other criteria for their *honors colleges* whereas some automatically consider you for their *honors colleges*.
Also, some schools will notify you of your acceptance but will not notify you of your merit scholarships if any until many months later; e.g. one of the first acceptances my daughter received back on 11/6 was from Pitt but she still hasn't been told how much of a merit scholarship they are giving her until late Jan-Feb.
Finally, some schools automatically consider you for a merit scholarship whereas others require a separate application process with additional essays et. al.
All of the above makes it especially challenging for student athletes. Glad we have closure! ;-)
Best wishes!
Also, some schools will notify you of your acceptance but will not notify you of your merit scholarships if any until many months later; e.g. one of the first acceptances my daughter received back on 11/6 was from Pitt but she still hasn't been told how much of a merit scholarship they are giving her until late Jan-Feb.
Finally, some schools automatically consider you for a merit scholarship whereas others require a separate application process with additional essays et. al.
All of the above makes it especially challenging for student athletes. Glad we have closure! ;-)
Best wishes!
Ok first off, forget about whether the school is DI,II, or III. Assuming your DD isn’t going to a power 5 school with the chance of playing for Team USA one day.
Shop for schools that fit your DDs academic goals. Do those schools have the degree necessary for her to do what she wants? If she doesn’t know, do they have a wide variety of degree programs?
and yes many private DIII schools offer large amounts off the inflated tuition rates they
Charge. They play off parental pride. I mean who doesn’t like bragging that their kid got a scholarship that pays 60%. Meanwhile your portion is still more then it costs to go to University of Michigan.
Shop for schools that fit your DDs academic goals. Do those schools have the degree necessary for her to do what she wants? If she doesn’t know, do they have a wide variety of degree programs?
and yes many private DIII schools offer large amounts off the inflated tuition rates they
Charge. They play off parental pride. I mean who doesn’t like bragging that their kid got a scholarship that pays 60%. Meanwhile your portion is still more then it costs to go to University of Michigan.
Great topic!
I am one of the knuckleheads not getting any aid. Don't qualify for needs-based and merit-based wasn't put on the table. Super frustrating! DD believes she is not only a better player, but she thinks she's also a better student than the other 2025 recruits. She had many other options and offers to apply and play; skill-wise she's setup for mid-major D1/high-level D3. Decided she wanted to go with a fairly low-level D3 program because of the reputation and uniqueness of the school and her intended major. She pursued the team hard and I think they took advantage of that. Bummer.
Upside is that we know she will massively outperform on the field, likely to play every inning of every game all 4 years if she wants. I also suspect that if she does well in school and on the field, she might be able to get merit aid in future years.
At the very least, she now knows she has to get a part-time job ASAP! I couldn't be more excited about that.
I am one of the knuckleheads not getting any aid. Don't qualify for needs-based and merit-based wasn't put on the table. Super frustrating! DD believes she is not only a better player, but she thinks she's also a better student than the other 2025 recruits. She had many other options and offers to apply and play; skill-wise she's setup for mid-major D1/high-level D3. Decided she wanted to go with a fairly low-level D3 program because of the reputation and uniqueness of the school and her intended major. She pursued the team hard and I think they took advantage of that. Bummer.
Upside is that we know she will massively outperform on the field, likely to play every inning of every game all 4 years if she wants. I also suspect that if she does well in school and on the field, she might be able to get merit aid in future years.
At the very least, she now knows she has to get a part-time job ASAP! I couldn't be more excited about that.
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