How Much Scholarship $ at D3s?

You are leaving a few things out here.  First the difference between D-Is and D-IIIs per financial responsibility is not as drastic at all of the D-IIIs and your example.  One of my daughter's close friends is playing softball at a local D-III.  She earned two different academic scholarships and so, she is paying perhaps 25% of the full tuition.  She also qualified for work on campus and so, that helps a lot.  Sure it interferes with practice etc. but the coach knows that those are the obstacles for his players and that he has to be in tune with those issues as well. 

 

One of my baseball players went to a local D-III and he earned pretty much the same deal.  He was fortunate that the job on campus that he was given was working in the athletic facilities.  He loved his experience at that school.  What you have to do is talk to admittance and see what potential monies are out there at any given school.  On a visit, the coach will probably set you up with a visit to financial aid.  Don't discount this option. 

 

Oh, forgot to add, the young lady will be working on campus all summer as well.  She is really excited about the opportunities she has been given.  She was coming off of a major injury in HS and thought that her playing career was over.  Now, she gets to play and is getting a great education as well. 

Leaving athletics out if the picture, if you talk to a college financial advisor, the first thing you'll hear is that if the kid's grades, SAT scores, etc, are outstanding, a well-endowed private school may be cheaper than public school.  

At most D3's, your son's 3.5 GPA and SAT score will get him quite a bit more than then 20% figure you mentioned

JCG, I hear this a lot.

Many times all of your and your sons questions will be answered by pursuing all of the above options.  Don’t toil too much over the choices until there are choices.  Your son probably should pursue D3 options that he is interested in.  By pursue I mean make it a real option by the way of having the coach of a D3 school state that he would want him on the roster and guarantee a roster spot.  If those offers to play do not materialize at a D3 then no need worrying about the financial part of it .He could then move onto other options which are options he should be pursuing at the same time.   The idea is to get as many REAL options as possible, go through the financial process at the school and then choose the best option.  Then and only then will you be able to decide if the money you have to pay out is worth playing baseball over or if it is at all financially viable.  But simply, go through the process of getting REAL options and offers.

The first thing that caught my eye in your post was "He also wants to go to a larger school."  Most DIII school are not large. I guess that isn't a deal-breaker, or you wouldn't be posting here.

Most of my first hand knowledge about financially healthy private colleges indicates that they usually get you to your Expected Family Contribution with at most a modest loan percentage. Your son's grades and test scores might earn him additional academic scholarships. There are on-line EFC calculators that will give you a rough idea, and some schools even offer their own specific on-line calculators.

If your son has the baseball side squared away, and he would choose the DIII at a specific dollar amount, then I think your task is simple...  apply to the school and let them offer you a finacial package. Don't assume anything, even if you have a high EFC.

 

Had one son in similar situation last year, choose to hang 'em up to go school that had his major and let those 4 years set up his next 40.  He had significant amount of academic money offered by numerous D-lll's, both in and out of state.  The money offered amounted to about what the cost of the large D-l school would be (he could not have played there).  This is the intention, to make it enticing enough to give your son an option of attending their institution and playing ball.  Good luck to him moving forward.  I hope that he has lot's of options to decide from and is able to make it work for him!!

Sounds like you and your son are having some pretty good conversations.

 

I'll echo some of the posts above.  In many instances the private D3's will end up way below the public state school if you have A) good grades and B) can play ball.  Sounds like your son checks both boxes.

 

While there isn't any "athletic" scholarships at the D3 level many D3 coaches can really help steer you toward other piles of cash like "leadership scholarships" etc.

 

The level of academic will also affect how much you get.  Many of the schools actually have spread sheets on their "tuition & fees" page that will give you a ball park how much academic money you may get.  Might be worth investigating a few of the schools websites he's interested in.

 

Good luck.

 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

My 2016 is very similar in talent (your son sounds a little more talented with a glove), experience, size (2016 is a little bigger), academic focus etc.  We recently spoke with some D3 colleges about $$$ for academics.  Many D3 schools guarantee for 4 years as long as GPA doesn't drop below 2.0 or 3.0 in most cases and all of them are committed to making sure your son maintains the scholarship. If what we heard is correct it will be the same or less for an "expensive" D3.  On the sports side of things, I was told that being at a D1 is like having a full-time job plus academics!  My son has been projected by local scouts as a mid level d1.  Projected is the key word here!  It's a great ego boost for him but D3 is a better match for his personality.  He wants to study engineering.  He likes multiple sports which may be an option at D3.  In many ways he is a young 2016. A lot can/will change in the next four or five years.  He has to answer the "What if?" question with an affirmative:  What if I can't play baseball?  Is this the college for me?

In my research on the topic a few years ago with two sons, it comes down to a few things in terms of academic money:

 

1) Supply & Demand - In general, if you meet a schools top 25% enrollment class they are most likely to give you money.  The better your son's academic numbers (the more the school is incented to want his numbers for publishing purposes) the more incentive $ in general.  You can check a college's admission profile at http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

 

2) Elite schools or schools with low admissions rates don't give a lot of scholarship $ but tend to be more need-based Financial Aid based.  So, if he is a top student and you are not over a threshold (say $180K income) there may be some FA incentive available.  If you over $180K then you may have to pay full price.   Check with their FA office.

 

3) With academic $$ incentives, it is best to get there early.  It is a pool of money that gets claimed quickly by those that ask for it.

 

4) Additional incentives can be negotiated.  Some campuses offer honor colleges and special living arrangements.

 

5) Outstanding academic performance gives you many options.  Consider all the options.

 

6) Everything is negotiable.  Some schools you think may be out of reach....aren't.  Let the FA offices make you an offer before crossing them off the list.

 

7) There was much more academic money available to us than athletic money.  Private schools will offer significantly more than public schools. 

 

JMO. 

 

Good luck.

 

 

How2Help,

 

Do you find it's an issue that there are not that many engineering programs at D3 schools because they are smaller, and schools with strong undergrad engineering (with some very notable exceptions) tend to be big schools?

FWIW - In my "east coast engineering baseball recruiting experience" a few years ago, we found the D3 engineering schools to be small and private, and the larger schools to be D1 and public.   The D3 engineering schools tended to be "boutiquey" and the D1 schools huge....neither was a fit for my oldest son   It was a huge issue in our process.  Looking back we made the right choice but I think he would have listened to his father more and considered more D3 schools.

I had a kid go D3 and the school cost $42,000 and he got $30,000 a year.

JCG, haven't found that at all. I have noticed that there are more 3-2 programs in smaller liberal arts schools.

Ditto for me. My 2015 is limiting himself to big schools with notable engineering programs. He doesn't want to to be at a very small school, he really wants to avoid schools that are primarily populated with tech people and skew male.  Gee, I wonder why?

We have not found that many. Happen to have a link to a  list?

 

Edit to say... well actually he's looking at Washington U, Bucknell, and USC and all have 3-2 I think. But I'm not sure he wants to go that way.   BTW engineering is crazy.  Doctors and lawyers don't have to lock in their career choice get started working in it  the first day of college

2016 likes small rural but he is a sophomore and he has plenty of time to change his mind about a lot of things!  LOL We are not small and rural.  Go figure.  Correct, in engineering a student has to focus immediately in order to get into the program after 1st year. Our focus is in West, NW MO, CO, WA, OR and CA. I would encourage you to look online at some college rating review sites and start there.  Are they "boutiquey" ?  something to think about ...   I am sure there are "better" and "worse" schools of engineering. We are not thinking about it that way; unless a school is obviously "worse".  He has the grades for just about any school he wants to go to.  It's all about balance.  We are encouraging him to choose the one that is just right for him.

My youngest will be graduating from a D3 school next weekend. His high school grades and test scores (similar to your son's) qualified him for the top academic aid package, which was about half of the cost of attending. The scholarship was good for all 4 years. This is similar to what all the schools in their conference award for academics. There are a few very well endowed schools in the conference that also offer individual grants based on grades and extracurricular activities which can greatly reduce the cost of attending.

 

My daughter graduated from a large D1 2 years ago. While she also qualified for the top range of academic money, the actual monetary award was much smaller. She was also interested in a D3 school, which offered additional academic money based on an interview-based competition. Had she chosen the D3 school, her total cost of attendance would have been less than $1,000/yr.

 

Also, do not discount the availability of private scholarship money. A local foundation in our area offers scholarships of $5,500/yr for 4 years, which are based partially on need and partially on leadership qualities. My daughter was fortunate enough to earn one of these scholarships. The year she won, the foundation awarded scholarships to 58 students.