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Financial Aid vs. Scholarship Award does one impact the other?

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    Financial Aid vs. Scholarship Award does one impact the other?

    If my FAFSA financial figures identify an expected family contribution = $20K (lets not get into cynical FAFSA calculation discussion please) and my son or daughter is accepted and elects to attend ABC University with a annual tuition, Room & Board, books and fees = $50K. In the simplest of scenarios, the $30K difference would be a made up with a combination of grants, loans and other financial assistance programs. In this case the student is receiving what amounts to be financial need assistance that equates to 60% of the annual college expenses.

    Same child above is also a gifted athlete, works hard and is fortunate enough to have earned and been presented with a 50% Athletic scholarship over 4 years at ABC University.

    Can anyone explain how this athletic scholarship is applied to the above equation? Does the 50% scholarship get applied and reduce all but 10% of the financial assistance piece and the family’s expected contribution remains at $20K?

    Does anyone have direct experience or familiar enough with the process to shed some light on the very likely scenario

    #2
    We got into a discussion with a couple friends who had a player going thru this at a large private university. Here's what I know. Generally, most $50,000 college will make you go thru the "financial aid determination" process first, to see how much aid you can get through their foundation or government programs without them having to tap into their athletic scholarship fund. If you have a good player, the coaches will say "we'll make up the difference up to XX.". I know the coaches in this situation actually waited until the FAFSA was thru and saw the result, so you will be disclosing your financials at some level, but not sure how much detail they get. It is very uncomfortable to have the coaching staff know that about you, but it is part of it all at the foundation based schools. I think the thing to remember is that they aren't giving you an athletic scholarship based on your players need, so be sure they give money based on their talent. (I.e. don't feel guilty if they give you an athletic scholarship even if you have money to pay for your kids education).

    Some coaches will say "we'll give you a full-ride or some dollar amount if you can get a XX on your SAT or ACT and a 3.+ gpa" because they know their own schools academic scholarships and have it figured out.

    Or skip the whole thing and go to your instate public university where you'll probabaly pay a lot less, even before you start negotiating for athletic scholarships!!

    The only scholarships that have to be subtracted from the athletic scholarships are those that require the student to be an athlete as the NCAA saw thru this. Most coaches know this and may not want you to go to these as it would be a wash for them with their budgeted amounts.

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      #3
      The simple answer is that your child's sport does not generate enough money to receive more money for school. Basically they could replace him/her with another athlete and it would not effect the bottom line. As sad as it is the same thing could not be said for an athlete like... lets say Cam Newton.

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        #4
        In going through the process, we were told to procede through the financial aid process and then we sat down and met with the coaches.

        In some sports (soccer for example), scholarships can be split up. Football is an example where scholariships cannot be split. Student-athletes can receive a quarter, third, half a ride.

        However, if the same student gets additional need-based aid, this is added up and counts toward the allotment given to each team by the athletic department/NCAA.

        So, if a coach gives an athletic scholarship equaling 50%, and the student also gets need-based aid equaling 50%, it counts as one full-ride toward the soccer program even though only 50% was coming from the athletic department.

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          #5
          Are coaches less likely to offer Athletic awards to students likely to receive need-based aid?

          Partial Athletic scholarship does not appear to be financially beneficial unless you are not in a position to receive any need-based assistance. As quoted several times full ride soccer scholarships are few and far between.

          Unless I am missing something 50% scholarship is of little financial incentive if a family's financial situation equates to 50% need based assistance.

          All being equal the entire recruitment courtship is not so interesting unless you are in a financial position to fund the education to begin with.

          What am I missing?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            In going through the process, we were told to procede through the financial aid process and then we sat down and met with the coaches.

            In some sports (soccer for example), scholarships can be split up. Football is an example where scholariships cannot be split. Student-athletes can receive a quarter, third, half a ride.

            However, if the same student gets additional need-based aid, this is added up and counts toward the allotment given to each team by the athletic department/NCAA.

            So, if a coach gives an athletic scholarship equaling 50%, and the student also gets need-based aid equaling 50%, it counts as one full-ride toward the soccer program even though only 50% was coming from the athletic department.
            Boy, I didn't believe this to be true. Is there a difference between academic scholarships and need based in them taking the amount away from the teams allotment? Because I was made to believe that the only way it would be taken away from the team's scholarship pool is if the aid came because they were an athlete, but if it is the same aid other students get, then it wouldn't count.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              In going through the process, we were told to procede through the financial aid process and then we sat down and met with the coaches.

              In some sports (soccer for example), scholarships can be split up. Football is an example where scholariships cannot be split. Student-athletes can receive a quarter, third, half a ride.

              However, if the same student gets additional need-based aid, this is added up and counts toward the allotment given to each team by the athletic department/NCAA.

              So, if a coach gives an athletic scholarship equaling 50%, and the student also gets need-based aid equaling 50%, it counts as one full-ride toward the soccer program even though only 50% was coming from the athletic department.
              There is only one school I am aware of that does it this way. There maybe more but it is a significant minority.

              At most colleges, the coach wants there to be a lot of financial aid and academic aid for incoming students as those do not count against atheltic scholarship budgets and the coach can provide less athletic aid to an individual player and have more available to spread to other players.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                There is only one school I am aware of that does it this way. There maybe more but it is a significant minority.

                At most colleges, the coach wants there to be a lot of financial aid and academic aid for incoming students as those do not count against atheltic scholarship budgets and the coach can provide less athletic aid to an individual player and have more available to spread to other players.
                So if family FAFSA calculates family contribution is expected to pay 30K and need based aid is 20K? How does a 50 percent scholarship impact the family contribution? In my mind family pays 5K but based on what I am reading - still not so sure.

                I would appreciate input from anyone that has been exposed to this scenario.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  So if family FAFSA calculates family contribution is expected to pay 30K and need based aid is 20K? How does a 50 percent scholarship impact the family contribution? In my mind family pays 5K but based on what I am reading - still not so sure.

                  I would appreciate input from anyone that has been exposed to this scenario.
                  Remember, athletic scholarships are for talent not financial need in theory. While I'm not the definitive source, if you are getting a 50% scholarship, that would be 50% of total tuition, then take off the 20K. I suppose a coach could say we'll pay 50% of wha t the financial aid won't so really depends on the offer. But they are mutually exclusive. It is more for the coaching staff to see how much they need to get to you. If need based aid or academic scholarship total is 100%, we'll they are off the hook and don't need to use athletic money or may offer some money for housing. You'd have your commitment in the can.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    So if family FAFSA calculates family contribution is expected to pay 30K and need based aid is 20K? How does a 50 percent scholarship impact the family contribution? In my mind family pays 5K but based on what I am reading - still not so sure.

                    I would appreciate input from anyone that has been exposed to this scenario.

                    The aspect you are overlooking is that the FAFSA calculates family contribution which in your case would be 30K. I am assuming that total cost of education in 50K, thus the 20K need based, however their are instances where students can be gapped.

                    The FAFSA of 30K for the family does not change.
                    With the 5K athletic scholarship and any other scholarship that a student recieves from a town, city or organization would change the need based aid. The 20K would go from 20K to 15K because that is what your need has changed to be receiving the 5K scholarship.

                    I would really recommend checking into one of the workshops that make their way around to each high school or speak to MEFA?, which is responsible for putting on these workshops to educate parents and students.

                    Also, remember the FAFSA is very different from CSS profile. Generally, schools that require CSS profile has their own way of generating what EFC should be and, from what I have learned, it generally works out better for the family.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      In response to the original question - it depends on the school. Some will reduce your financial aid, some won't reduce it at all, and some will reduce it partially. There's no official formula for it, but each school in general will have its own consistent policy.

                      You really need to talk to / research each school individually.

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