Negotiate a scholarship offer?

I'm assuming the player has more than one offer?   I'm not sure I'd come right out and "ask"....but if the kid has other offers, he could let the schools know that there are other offers and see what happens.  I would think that coming straight out and asking for more money would be a bad idea.....especially if the scenario of having $8000 and wanting $10000 is legitimate.  Not sure I'd risk alienating a coach over $2000....but that's just me

Certainly can be like car sales:   

My son received an offer from a D2 that was a combination of scholarship and a grant.  He was able to bump up the grant money, but not the scholarship money when we ran into some financial issues.

I guess another point is that most coaches know exactly how much scholarship money they have available for each open spot on the roster.  Just because you want more money....heck, or even if the coach wants to give more, doesn't mean they can.  Scholarship money is limited....they can't just "make more"....

My definition of negotiating depends on being willing to walk away with no deal.

If I'm not willing to say no, I may think I'm negotiating, but all I'm really doing is begging. That's not how I would want to begin a relationship with a coach.

With college scholarship offers, if you receive an offer that still leaves the school unaffordable, by all means tell the coach you'd like to play for him but need a better offer to make it possible. 

However, once a coach extends an offer that makes attending his school affordable, I would negotiate only if you have an equally desirable and affordable option and the money at stake is enough to influence the decision.  Once you are comparing affordable options, your focus should be picking the right school, not wringing out the last thousand dollars of savings.

All but one of the offers my son received netted out with out-of-pocket expenses within a fairly narrow range. We did tell the coach of the outlier that his offer made him about 35% more expensive than my son's other options.  The coach called back a few days later with an improved offer that cut the gap in half--that was good enough for me to tell my son he could evaluate it on the same basis as his other options.  My son went somewhere else, but money wasn't the main factor.

^^^^^^ is spot on in my opinion.

What is your primary reason for asking?  Is it out of need or want.  If it's out of need, then there's nothing wrong with approaching the coach and indicating that the only way it can happen is if he's able to get $XXX.  Your FAFSA will likely back that up, so make sure you're being completely honest.

In our experience going through this, we told our son that I would look at the finances of each offer, cost, etc., and that we'd let him know if a school was financially out. So basically, unless we told him otherwise, all schools offering were in and he could consider academics, atmosphere, facilities, campus, program, coaching, etc., etc., and make HIS decision based on those factors that would directly affect him most.

Let's face it, unless being offered a full ride, everyone would like to get an extra $2k or so tossed into the mix, but the approach we took was to look at the offers at hand and make a financial "go/no go" decision based on them.

Totally agree with Swampboy...very well said.  If you are going to negotiate, you have to ask yourself "what if they just say no?".  In academic terms, know your "BATNA" or "Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement".  This is essentially what Swampboy articulates.  The only thing I will add is this:  when a coach makes an offer, the amount of that offer is his message as to how badly you are wanted relative to others.  So, keep that in mind.  Do you really want to negotiate to the 11th hour, squeeze every dollar out of the coach that you can, then have your son walk in in the Fall and be getting...say 40%...when the coach is walking out to the field thinking he was "worth" 30% or whatever.  Yes, we are taught to get every $ we can,but do you want to create that dynamic...whereby the coach may have "buyer's remorse"?

These are all great points, one other issue to take into account is that the program probably has guidelines for each type of player and a "budget" while giving an additionl 10% may not seem like much, it may eliminate one other partial scholly since there is now a 25% minimum. I would also discuss what happens in case of an injury. (very real possibility) Do they continue to offer scholly's through Sr year? 

BucsFan very well put. If son plays in the fall like a %30, and we asked for %50 that would be a bad deal for the boy and the coach. 

Swamps, that makes sense. I wouldn't feel comfortable after knowing how well the coaching staff has been to us to put a bad taste in the coaches mouth because we were being greedy.

I was just curious if negotiating happened after an offered. When we sat down with the head coach after our visit, and he made an offer; felt like we were with a salesmen and we were to counteroffer. Karma, doing the right things, and not pissing off the baseball gods that will put you into a giant slump.

I just want to do the right things, and I don't feel like begging for more would be the right thing for us. 

Whether offers are negotiable depends on which college program you're dealing with.  Some will, others won't.

Consult with your travel coach to see if he can provide guidance as to which you're dealing with.  Or, you can PM people on this board if you know of some who've dealt with that particular set of coaches.

It's principally a matter of who has the leverage.  If you're talking to an Omaha caliber program and every top guy in the nation is fighting to go there, you have to recognize that if you don't take their offer, they'll likely just move on to Bachelor # 2.  On the other hand, if an elite player is fielding several offers and a particular program is hot after him, it's OK to ask for more, especially if you can truthfully phrase it in terms of the player's desire to meet his family's financial needs (as opposed to just trying to get a high number for bragging rights).  A player with no other suitors, on the other hand, might be well advised to get what he can while he can, particularly if the school is a good fit as a school.

If handled correctly, a request for more may well be rejected without burning the bridge.  So you can often take your shot at more without queering the deal on the original opportunity.  This requires great care, however, because it has definitely been my experience that baseball is full of "my way or the highway" personalities and many people will take offense over things that you and I may find totally inoffensive.  Again, it pays to do some research first to try to figure out what type of personality you're dealing with.

Another not-uncommon scenario is the player who commits for some % and then later becomes a potential high draft pick.  Many programs will try to find a way to entice that guy to show up on campus.  The committed player has more leverage here, since by June of his senior year, he has a signed NLI in hand, so the program can't just yank his existing deal because they take offense easily.  The player either moves up or doesn't, but he doesn't put the existing deal at risk.

I wouldn't do it.  Why piss off somebody?

Just take the best offer/school.

To spin the question...I have read on here that some schools CAN offer for 4 years...is it rude to ask if the 4 year option is open?

Not rude to ask at all.

Understand that for the power 5 conferences, it's a foregone conclusion (by their bylaws) that the scholarship offer is for four years and cannot be pulled or reduced for performance reasons.  This rule was ratified in January by those 5 conferences.

Outside those five, it's up to the school/coach/AD as to what they'll do and it is certainly worth asking and wouldn't be offensive at all. 

Nuke, can you provide a link to a confirming source on that?  I missed that report before and would like to verify, thanks.  I always want to make sure that things like this apply to ALL sports, including baseball -- since so often they make rules just for football and maybe basketball.

Sultan,

What you miss is, you may not be getting their best offer right off the bat.  The best offer may be one you have to negotiate for.

It's OK to be wary of fouling the nest, but not smart to just assume you shouldn't ask.

If my son really liked the school, and it was not possible for him to attend based on finances, then I wouldn't have a problem asking for more money.  If they really want you, they will find a way to make it happen.  It doesn't seem like that is the case here, so I wouldn't. 

http://collegefootballtalk.nbc...holarships-approved/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/...holarships/21921073/

Another thing to consider:

That $8,000 is what percent of the cost of attendance?  That could be a 40% schooly or a 25% scholly.  Neither is shabby when you think there are up to 8 players that are not getting anything.

And a word to the wise, and I speak from experience, if you can get that dollar figure translated into a percentage it could work to your benefit.  In son's case, tuition at his state school rose ~$4,250 per year the July before he was to be there in August. That was a hunk of additional change we needed to come up with each year.

 (Sometimes the school's baseball budget is worked in total dollars however, and not as a %s). 

Swampboy,

Is the "we" you mention actually your son, or did you get involved in the financial discussions?  I realize that the player needs to deal with all baseball-related discussions, but does that advice change when money is being discussed (after all, it's not the kids money that's going to pay the majority of the bill).  On a related note, is a coach comfortable/confident when a 17 year old "commits" in response to smallish scholarship offer without hearing from the parents that they can swing it, particularly at an expensive private school?

In my son's case, once he had made his choice of school, I told him to sleep on it a couple of days just to be sure.  During that time I called the head coach (it was the HC that made the offer to him while on a visit) simply to confirm and verify the offer to ensure that there was no misunderstanding.  He reiterated the same offer he had previously made, so it cleared the way for my son to call him later and give his commitment.

My personal opinion is that this is absolutely fine.  Case in point, another school had increased their previous offer during his recruitment.  The RC had a phone discussion with my son and my son conveyed the change to me.  I followed up with the RC and found that my son had misunderstood and transposed some numbers.  It was a material difference between what my son had (mis)understood and the actual offer.

The baseball side of the fence is his.  The money side is mine.  I can't imagine any coach taking issue with this.  After all, coaches are dealing with 35 of these mis-firing frontal lobes a year.  They get it.

For whatever it's worth, I'd say go with your honest, informed assessment of the offer -- based on your son's baseball talent and academic accomplishments. If it feels right, don't push back. If not, go for it. The key is to look at it objectively.

Great points above, in our case my son had another offer in hand. School 2 extended what i considered was a "fair" offer but son was offered better elsewhere and we asked for a few days to think about it. Once he knew the school 2 was where he's like to be, he took into consideration the HC's request to share the wealth with the program and allow to build with other recruits. Son called and did all communications with RC and committed next day, cancelling the other visits on the tour. He loves the school, got a fair offer and it works for the family.

I would counter if you have another better offer or as others mentioned, be prepared to walk if they stick to their guns.

Good luck!!!!! 

I know of kids who had their scholarships reduced by these conferences just this year.

Would have had to occur prior to August 1.  New rules took effect on 8/1.

Also, scholarships can still be reduced, just not for performance.  If there are grade issues, behavior, legal, etc., scholarships can be pulled entirely.

I generally hung back when my son was walking around with the coach, but it was natural to participate more when we all sat down around a table and the coach presented his offer. Most of my "involvement" was asking questions to make sure I understood exactly what was and was not covered by the offer.

I told the one coach mentioned above how his offer stacked up because he seemed to be probing for such intel.

There really were not any "financial discussions" per se. The money issue had to be addressed in the course of the presentation, but the coaches dispensed with it quickly and got the conversation back to the more comfortable ground of why our son would love coming to their schools.

(Maybe that would have been different if the offers had been bigger or if the coaches had sensed that money was a primary factor for us.)

We are not negotiating for a 2016 Honda Accord where you can buy the exact same one down the street.

A kid is only going to get so many offers.  But, if you're willing to blow off one of these offers, then by all means, go ahead and negotiate.

Actually, the parallels are quite apt. 

And you can get the same feeling if you ever have to deal with the draft.

Always keep one thing in mind, you may have never done this before, they have done it hundreds of times. You can always ask for more, there is nothing wrong with that, however they are much better at this than you and I will ever be. 

If you do not feel that you can afford to send your son there to go to school (remember that is the main objective), don't. 

I would only negotiate harder if my son had more than one offer.  

Here is how it works. If your son is a top priority for their program, they may negotiate, if not, you had better make sure he doesnt want to go there. 

And keep in mind if they do increase the offer, and it doesnt pan out he will lose  that money sooner or later.

The coach only has so much to offer, in any division.  If your son is a good student, there are more options available than trying to haggle with a coach. There maybe much more money available than 2K.