What is a good scholarship offer?

Make no mistake, any scholarship that brings with it a chance to play is a good one.

At Arizona State, for example, most in state kids get nothing more than books, if that.

Normally, most money goes to pitchers and middle infielders, up to 80 percent usually. In some rare cases, it will be a full ride.

For most players at most schools, 30 percent is very substantial.

That just might depend on who you ask - the parents or the kid. My kid was thrilled with the offer of going to the school to play on the team, and I was thinking that the coach's offer left out books. Might add that our kid is at a D1 junior college.

A good scholarship is one you are content with, what you are comfortable with and one you are willing to accept. I cant quite understand the scolarship percentages, as each school costs different amounts of money. 20% here or 50% there could be the same $ amount.

YourBasicMom says it best.

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A good scholarship is one you are content with, what you are comfortable with and one you are willing to accept.

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As in just about everything, there are a lot of variables.

If it’s about money, you have to look at the bottom line. What are YOUR out of pocket expenses? An 80% at one school could still cost you more money than a “books only” at another.

Many think there is a direct correlation between scholarship amount and playing time? I think the player that produces will be on the field, scholarship or not. I know some boys that are on great scholarships that aren’t playing and walk-ons that are starting.

Different states have additional scholarships like the HOPE and TOPS scholarships. These are for in-state student athletes based on a very liberal GPA. This will alter how a coach awards in-state vs. out-of-state scholarships.

Some other things to consider when evaluating a scholarship:

Different classifications have different “rules” when it comes to scholarships.

Many schools don’t fund their full allotment of scholarships.

Some schools provide additional assistance to student/athletes as allowed by the NCAA; per diem allowance during away games and cash allowance during spring break and post season are good examples of this.

Throw into the mix the player’s talent, the “need” of the baseball program, your son’s academic aspirations, and suddenly you realize each situation is completely different. When we realize the multiple variables of the scholarship, YourBasicMom’s remarks make a lot more sense.
Best of luck,
Fungo

Thank you. Great comments and insights. There certainly is a lot to consider here while maintaining a practical view of the overall objectives for my son attending college.

This a great question but let's change it around just a little. How much baseball money can a player expect that plays MI and is recruited to a SEC or ACC school? The player is projected to play some his 1st season and play most of the time his 2nd season.

cbg:

It depends.

What I mean is this:

How much do they need him right away? Your scenario indicates the need is not imminent.

How many other players are they recruiting at his position? If it is more than one, the offer probably will be less.

What are his draft prospects? If they are high (top five rounds) the offer will most times be higher.

I have seen a shortstop offered 100 percent by an ACC school, only to sign a pro contract. Then, I have seen another kid get 50 percent and play from day 1.

You just never know. As the responses here indicate, it is not the money that is so important in a baseball sense. It is the opportunity.

If it is scholarship dollars a player is after, then football is a far better path, even at a D2 level.

scholly dollars from a families standpoint many times are not based on ERA but rather on SAT.

33% is good for a position player...50% for a quality pitcher.

Thanks BeenthereIL,

I know that it was only an educated guess but I was guessing between 25% & 50%, so we were close.

What is a good scholarship level depends on YOU and YOUR NEEDS combined with your sons WANTS !!!!

There is no % or $ figure that you can generalize on

Everyone's input has been so valuable. Thank you. Another follow up question: is there ever any room to negotiate these offers, or is this considered strictly taboo?

Be careful not to chew off the hand that feeds you. We made schools aware of offers in a very general sense. In our case the out of State tuition was an issue and we worked things out.


I will never understand the the reasoning behind asking an athlete to represent your institution, and then stick them with the out of State penalty. Way to many tuition inconsistancies between States and institutions that will always affect parity issues.

Tr as is often the case is right as rain, but some generalization may be commonly accepted:

(1) 100% is phenomenal, and very rare, at any school, any level. Anything over 50% is considered awfully good, but the bottom line
will always be the amount of dollars mom and dad have to pay each year.

(2) Most money seems to go up the middle-P, C, SS, CF. High quality pitchers get the most $$$.

(3) First Basemen are the Maytag Repair guys of college baseball. Many schools don't even recruit one, they just convert somebody else 3B or a P that can hit.

(4)If a school is paying a percentage of your son's education bill, whatever and however they label it (baseball money, XYZ grant, whatever), and if you can comfortably afford the balance, it's a good offer. It may not be the school for your son, but it's a good offer.

(5) There are exceptions to evey one of these rules of thumb.

(Irrelevant off the wall trivia: the expression "rule of thumb" supposedly came from Europe, centuries ago, where a husband could beat his wife, but only with a stick no bigger than his thumb, hence the expression "rule of thumb". Who says you haven't come a long way baby..............

This article may help:

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/good_offer.htm

Am I a "lame-brain"?

Someone, please explain "fully funded":

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Many schools don’t fund their full allotment of scholarships

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Thanks for the education!

This has been extremely helpful. I just recentely discovered these forums and it is so great to find a support network where everyone is willing to share from experience.

baseballmom,

Your question:
"Someone, please explain "fully funded":

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Many schools don’t fund their full allotment of scholarships
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The NCAA rules allow a DI, for example, to award the $ equivalent of 11.7 full scholarships (spread among more than 11.7 players, hence the percentages mentioned above). But not all colleges decide to fund baseball scholarships to the full amount allowed by NCAA. So the coach may have less money to spread around among his players than the max allowed by NCAA.

Yourbasicmom is right. The best offer is the one that puts the boy in the situation he wants to be in, that puts him on the field where he is competitive, in the classroom he wants to be in....that his folks can afford.

If he's happy, pursuing and has an opportunity to complete the degree program of his choice, the money part comes last to me. Its just green paper.

I'll agrree with Hokieone. The one that pays for some or all of an education without anybody going in debt, is a good one.

one thing I remember last year...somewhere around September...

is there were plenty of people telling my son, 'that's a great offer" - and saying, "you better take it"....

but it boils down to the place that will feel like home for my son - he must come away feeling like this is the school for him with or without the scholly...

of course...a $$ amount for a private vs a state school does factor into the equation, if you're talking percentage....but, the school on his list of top 5...one of them was his first offer...which was way fun...was not on his list after spending time at the campus and with the coaches and going to their practices...

good scholarship offer means many things...it will be his home for quite sometime...hopefully...

and getting a chance to play or contribute early on (assuming he does fine)...is something he considered in the process...

What exactly can a D1 and a D2 juco offer? It seems that I had seen somewhere that D1 can offer books tuition and housing and D2 can only offer books and tuition.