$ at DIII

Every D-III program is different---I have had kids get offers of 80% and up from D-III programs and others not get a penny----each case stands on its own merit

Bottom Line---don't walk from any situation until you hear what they have to say

Every D3 is different. After completing the FAFSA we were told that we had too much equity in our home. Our eldest son's college finanical aid departments advice was to "sell our house to pay their tuition." Our youngest son's approach was to discount our home equity which qualified us for a $30K grant.

Private school tution is going up; yet many are having a tough time filling incoming classes. My eldest son's school was somewhere around 150 students short of its enrollment goal this year.

It may be getting close to playing "hard ball" with financial aid offices as the economy starts to have a greater impact on private school enrollments.

Most financial aid at DIII is merit based, that is, scholarships or grants tied into grades or activities from high school. Oftentimes, the money awarded to students wanting to enter a DIII school will cut the cost so that it is identical, or even lower, than the DI schools. All of the DIII schools to which my son applied were very up front about how much aid he could expect.

i am not sure what mid to upper income is for you but my son received the best "net" cost deals at the better academic d-3 schools vs. d-1 offers along with merit money, plus he was awarded 1 full year credit towards his degree for the work he did in high school.

The merit based aid my son was offered from DIII's was very strong. Turned the school he will be attending from cant afford it, to below the cost of the state schools he was considering.

Hoping maybe this can be answered here. My son will be attending a D-3 school this fall that does not offer graduate studies. He is going to be awarded a full year credit due to the work he did in high school. Will he be eligible to play a fourth year at another school after he graduates from his first school?

This is determined by the rules of the division he transfers to.

NAIA: Not eligible (Article V.D5)
D3: Not eligible (14.1.9 for all NCAA divisions)
D2: Eligible
D1: Possibly eligible, if he wasn't recruited to the original D3. There is also some ambiguity in the rule.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Every D-III program is different---I have had kids get offers of 80% and up from D-III programs and others not get a penny----each case stands on its own merit

Bottom Line---don't walk from any situation until you hear what they have to say

^ we will be paying less than 3K/year at a top 10 academic school in the NE that has a tuition of 55K for my daughter....

some schools place more an emphasis of on athletics than others of course....

For D 3, the better the grades and test scores, the more money without regard to FAFSA in many cases. Son had several excellent D 3 offers based on grades to highly ranked academic and athletic programs. The offers were actually more than the eventual D 1 offers. Many D 3 schools have a set formula for awarding academic grants to all students based on test scores and academic performance. They have to do this in a lot of cases to compete for top students.

So, work and study hard. It will help open many more doors at all levels,

There is plenty of money out there at the D3 level for your son. Some will be academic, some will simply be grants, depends upon the school.

Make sure your son takes both the SAT and ACT. At several schools my son was recruited by, he received more money based on his scores from one test than the other--between a $1k to $4k difference. Primarily, from schools that had very few students submit SAT scores. In ACT land, very few kids take the SAT and consequently, there are more scholarships available for students who submit them to schools in those regions.

The bottom line is that schools who really want your son, will find a way to give an attractive offer. How much the offer is depends upon the Academic ranking vs. your son's grades and his high school's national ranking, and/or the school's endowment and financial situation.

When discussing merit based scholarships at the DIII level, I think it is very important to look at the money over a 4 year period as it can be impacted by competing in baseball.
Most schools have a minimum GPA requirement to maintain merit based scholarships. For our son, it was maintaining a 3.2 GPA through each of the 4 years. For some schools, I think it is as low as a 3.0.
However, just like college baseball is nothing like HS baseball in terms of the talent and competition, competing in the classroom of a small private school that is academic challenging isn't like most high schools.
In addition, the time and commitment required for baseball, the travel, the midweek night games, the missed classes and the increasing academic demands as the student progresses each of those 4 years cannot be underestimated.
Certainly, a merit scholarship entering college is wonderful recognition for the job well done in HS.
However, each year after that, the merit money is "earned" at a higher level of competition than in HS and with challenges that many students just don't have because of baseball.
Maintaining a 3.2 GPA in a demanding academic curriculum, with a strong academic student population while also succeeding on the baseball field is a challenge not to be underestimated.
If a parent/student is planning on academic money, they need to appreciate what is expected to maintain it, not just what the student/athlete did to earn it in the first place.

I'd like to add to the discussion that Merit scholarships can be increased as well. We got a pleasant surprise this year when 4thGen as a rising Soph. was given more money based on his academic performance.

Infielddad is correct when he says it's tough to compete at a top academic school with kids that are spending their non-class time studying while your playing baseball. It can be done however.

Many, if not most, Top D3 schools, do not offer any merit based $$. I just checked the Williams and Haverford websites and it looks like neither one offers merit $$.

Back when my son was being recruited there was one D3 that came up with a very ambiguous grant titled "extra curricular activity grant". It made up the difference in tuition.

Cgc3 you are correct, as most of your higher d3 academic schools just package it as FA including the ivy schools and some even have done away with loans.The trick is being accepted and then they become very generous.

Cgc3 and ken, You are correct Williams and Haverford and most schools that attract top academic talent only offer need based financial aid. Their is no way to offer merit based scholarships as everyone is a top student. The carrot that they use to attract top baseball talent is being admitted to their school. Provided that you meet some very high academic standards.

My son played at a d-3. there are no athletic schollies but most schools try to find a way to get you need based or merit based money that is available.

Need to take a look at the endowment schools have, if they have the dough, they'll usually find a way to get you some if they want you there.

I was recruited to go to a d3 school last year. The school have $ based on grades and test scores. FAFSA played a little role in anything else, if a couple hundred dollars maybe. But the baseball coach did continually talk with me to see what number would work in order to go there, and tried to work with the person in charge of scholarships, to try and find a little extra here and there. There are a lot of things that can be done to get a little extra money from a school.