Economy & College

You're chances of being a JUCO transfer into Stanford are very very very very low.......

However transferring into a UC or USC etc shouldn't be a problem and would save some bucks, as long as your son can get the classes he needs.

You listed a bunch of private schools. Try your example with your public State universities at an $18000 COA, then subtract $4500 for a baseball grant. If no academic aid, preferably exempted is not earned, the balance of $13,500 can be made up from the pocketbook, student loan, unsubsidized student loan, and parent loans.

My son followed the high end Ivy college with baseball route. Baseball blessed our son with the opportunity to attend a very prestigious school, which cursed him with a very significant debt load in his early adult life. While I regret not being better able to assist with his immediate college fees, we would not have changed a thing. His education, and the lifelong network of alumni will provide significant reward to him over his lifetime. It already has!

Meanwhile, there is more than one way to finance a college education. I used this link in another post. Human Capital Contracts

and Michael Corleone asked Johnny Fontana(Frank) if he would play a few dates in Vegas for his godfather, and was encouraged to bring along some of his Hollywood friends.

You pay interest on a loan. You pay a % of your earnings, that is also interest, just a different bank.

Maybe college kids can wear corporate logo patches on their clothing?

quote:

Originally posted by cbg:
With the economy as it is now will more student/athletes make the decision to take the JUCO route due to the low cost of an education for two years? When crunching the numbers I noticed that a good academic student (could attend and play at Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, etc...) that was offered a 25% scholarship ($50,000.00 tuition) would still be expected to pay $37,500.00 per academic year. If the family could pay $20,000.00 per year without any loans the family would still owe $17,500.00 each year and $70,000.00 after four academic years. Should the student/athlete attend a JUCO where they had little if any cost and then transfer to the academic D1 school? After playing for two seasons at the JUCO one would think that the scholarship offer would increase to 50% due to experiene at the college level, which would cost the family $25,000.00 per year and if they could still pay $20,000.00 per academic year that would be a loan of $10,000.00 to pay back after graduation. Would this not be a smart gamble?

I am not sure of your question but those schools typically do not recruit JUCO players.

Do not assume that scholarship $$ would increase because of experience, I know JUCO players who went to D1 schools on very little, now it has to be 25% minimum or possibly nothing (walk on).

Don't think that what you are thinking is a good gamble.

JMO.

Well if he is a good academic student like you say he should also receive academic aid along with the 25% baseball money.

I agree with TPM and it is well known that many schools such as Stanford , Notre Dame do not take JC transfers. But there are several schools that do. If a JC transfer was to go to a private school, it would only cost two years of admssions instead of four(or five).I do think for some players and their families this will become something to think about if they are being hit particularly hard by the economy. Some people arent effected by whats going on but many people are and the analysts dont see it getting better for at least 2-3 years. Many people have lost thousands just on their retirements that were invested in stocks or mutual funds. Many will not recover.
Some can afford to send their sons to Harvard and Yale and I am happy for them trully. We could not do that,but we will help our son get to a 4 year and make whatever sacrifices we can so he can hopefully continue to play a game he loves.
This topic has popped up now in two threads in last two days, that shows me that everyone is thinking about it and thats good. Esp. if your sons are still in HS. Best of luck for all posters whos kids are geting ready to choose a college and I hope everything works out for all of you.

IMO if a player is a top notch student he will receive enough academic $$ along with any baseball $$ to make a four year private school affordable.
But if he is average academically a 2 year stay at a JUCO, then onto a 4 year school, is a very good option. Especially if $$ is an issue, as it seems it will be for more and more of us.

Do not count out the Ivy`s when it comes to tuition.If my son was to be admitted with our income level(150k approx) and another already in college it would cost less for him to attend Yale then it would for a CC,the secret of course is to be admitted.

quote:

IMO if a player is a top notch student he will receive enough academic $$ along with any baseball $$ to make a four year private school affordable.

...and if he stays a top notch student. If the grades slip below a certain level, the merit money goes away. I know kids who had to either transfer or get loans to make up the difference after their academic money was cut or decreased after a tough academic semester.

quote:

After playing for two seasons at the JUCO one would think that the scholarship offer would increase to 50% due to experiene at the college level,

That is VERY logical thinking, unfortunately the recruiting process isn't always as logical.
1+1 doesn't always = 2

cbg..........

there's concern that many of the more selective academic schools do not accept transfers or are very selective in the transfers that they do take. it is a very big risk indeed to take for a student who has the stats (gpa, class rank, test scores) coming out of high school to possibly be admitted as a freshman at a more selective academic school. jmho, if the door is now open for admission to a top ranked academic, waiting to see if it's open again for a transfer later on ........isn't the best way to go. also.........something to think about is whether there is more merit aid/ need based aid awarded to incoming freshman as opposed to transfers.

that being said, i've read that enrollments are up at both junior colleges and the public (state) universities.

it's not a bad idea to look at the naia level schools as it seems they are both private and 4 year but their coa may be lower than at some d1, d3 privates.

i do think you'll see continued increases in enrollments at the jc's and continued recruiting from them. there are success stories although i've heard of more than a few students who went the jc route only to leave after 1 or 2 semesters, give up their sport, and enroll at the public state u's.


the concerns about the current economy are definitely coming into play as families make decisions about college.

endowments are down.

dbg_fan....good post. thanks for sharing about your son's schooling.

When throwing out these hypothetical questions I had no idea what type of response I would get. I do understand that some of the more selective schools take less transfers than others. However, I also understand that student/athletes that graduate from the JUCO's with a 3.50+ are able transfer to most any four year institution (if the baseball coach wants them) other than some of the Ivy League schools or military academies.

Speaking of Miltary Academies: If the economy stays in the toilet will more families look at the free education of the academies where the students also receives a check for being in the military? With it being a fact that graduates of the service academies are the highest paid executives in the world are the academies not a better deal than the Ivy League schools?

quote:

Speaking of Miltary Academies: If the economy stays in the toilet will more families look at the free education of the academies where the students also receives a check for being in the military?

It's not a question of if the economy stays in the toilet, but how many years, 1, 2 or 3.

The service academies are an option, if the student desires it. I wouldn't encourage attending a service academy unless the kid really "wanted" it. They need to really want it, imo. I mentioned it once after the academy recruiting mail started hitting the mailbox, with little positive response.

Comparing the Ivies and the Academies isn't fair after the tuition difference. The latter issues guns and knives to students, with good reason. That may be a good thing or bad, depending on the student.

I don't know about anyone else, but I knew before my son graduated that the academies were not in his plans. It takes a certain person to be able to commit to something like the Military Academies. God bless them all!

I would guess most cadets are pointed in that direction long before high school graduation. They do deserve a hand.

Any thoughts on what academic or athletic money leverage a juco transfer has? I would think the 2 year transfer would have a similar value as the college senior trying to be drafted. He might be a talent but is running out of time.

A few things seem to have been left out of the JC/costs discussion.

Don't assume you can make a JC team. It is difficult for good high school players to make a good JC team - or get playing time (at least in Ca.)

Many freshmen at D1 programs sit/redshirt

You are draft eligible four times (1st and 2nd year of JC, and two years of college) - many consider that a real advantage.

Four year colleges are fun but very expensive.

Dswann - JC transfers who can perform on the field and in the classroom are in HIGH demand

quote:

Originally posted by dswann:
Any thoughts on what academic or athletic money leverage a juco transfer has?

They would probably range from a nice amount for a proven JUCO stud to a non-counter zero money roster plug. In other words, same for about everyone.

Brod,

Good point about making and playing at a JC esp. in Ca. Many people just think, oh play at a JUCO or JC. My son has 4 D1 return guys, 3 D1 that didnt make it to D1, being finances, grades etc, 2 D2 returns,thats 9 guys on roster that had D1 -D2 scholarships, one player who was drafted out of HS as a draft and follow etc etc.Anyway I agree that a good JUCO, JC player that keeps his grades up(KEEPS HIS GRADES UP)being #1 reason players dont go to D1 colleges out of JC told to me by several scouts. I personally think (maybe biased) that there will be opportunities for those that perform in the class and out side on the field, for JC players esp. with the economy the way it is.Things will change in the landscape of baseball with economy and roster and scholarship limitations.