@MidAtlanticDad posted:I guess that would be true in some cases, but you have to negotiate participation in the Continuing Education Program as part of your initial contract, right? And even for those who do, the reimbursement amounts are also negotiable. Call me cynical, but I'm guessing very few kids actually come out ahead on that deal.
Son's MLB CEP contract was pretty standard, with the tuition and room/board listed spelled out in a separate attached letter based on the current rates at his school at the time of contract signing. The actual school isn't listed, and son was a college junior sign, but if the player is committed to play at a given school, those rates would be listed. You really could attend any college. I would think any high school player signing this year could negotiate 4 years. It is their only leverage. Not sure about a JuCo commit.
The Cons: You have to start use of the CEP within 10 years of signing your first minor league contract, and within 2 years of leaving baseball. There are exclusions (ie: fraud, put on the ineligible list). I think it is pretty well known that not all players use it, so it is a true benefit only if used. Tuition and Room/Board increase over those 10 years, so you are out of pocket the difference. The tuition and R/B is reimbursed after passing grades and receipts are submitted in most cases, so you you have to come up with all the money upfront. The player is taxed on all amounts paid out, which is a quite a bite. The player has little time to take classes: the milb season runs into September so you would have to start the fall semester late, and the spring and summer semesters conflict with the playing season. (Few colleges have a January session which would work). If you wait until your playing days are over as a junior/senior sign, you will be a much older student attending college. As I understand it, the CEP now specifies how many 'semesters' you can attend and breaks down the amounts by semester. So, if you are a junior sign with 2 semesters left, that is what you get: 2 semesters (not $$ for credits spread out over several years). Son's wasn't spelled out that way, however.
The Pros: If you are taxed at the 25% rate, you could have your last 2 semesters, or all 8 semesters reimbursed at 75%. That is quite a baseball scholarship. If the high school sign player doesn't pan out in baseball in 5-6 years, he still has 8 full semesters to get that degree going full time.
On a personal note: keewartson is currently trying to finish up his degree using the CEP. He was already able to go one full FALL semester (with a quick re-enrollment and class selection turnaround) and live near campus and he loved being a "student without baseball obligations". Sure, he was a bit older and the current baseball players called him "dad", but he got to experience college a different way. He was still able to work out, rehab, and hit with one of the coaches. Plus, he got to work a camp or two for some needed $$. Currently, with the pandemic and college closures, his school has more online classes than ever before and he is able to take upper level classes online. It is not easy in summer school, and he has to take one of the classes at a different college and have the credits transfer, but it looks like he may be a 2020 grad! Yippee! If milb should start up this summer in some form, he plans to continue on with his online classes. This weird year is a "blip" of an opportunity to him finish up his last 9 credits. Since we, his parents, didn't have to pay his last year of college (less his baseball scholarship), we are paying his CEP tax obligation at tax time.