What's the deal?

CH10Dad,
A 60% scholarship is a big scholarship in baseball. That's 60% of tuition, books, room, and board.

D1 schools are allowed to distribute 11.7 scholarships among up to 27 players, with none of those 27 receiving less than 25%. They are also allowed to have 35 players on the roster.

If the scholarships were divided evenly, which they are not, everyone would get around 42%. In practice larger scholarships go to the best pitching prospects, with prime catchers and shortstops ranking below that and corner position players at the bottom.

What can a player expect? That baseball probably won't pay much of his college bill, so he'd better work hard on his academics.

Oh, regarding your question about full scholarships: They're like Yeti sightings. I've heard about them from time to time, but no one I know has actually seen one. It's always a friend of a friend who did.

quote:

What can a player expect? I'm not really aware of the rules and nuances of this all yet but I'm trying to do early financial planning so if my son does get 60%, that's alot different outcome at a $28K school versus a $50K school.

CH10Dad,

Welcome. You've come to the right place to learn about this process. There is a lot to learn. There is nothing I know that you can do to plan for a 60% scholarship. Truthfully, I would plan on 0%, and then everything would be gravy. We're planning on academic money (as Swampboy suggests) for my middle son and youngest son.

When you look at the numbers of kids that move from high school onto college baseball (NCAA reports 5.6%), you realize the baseball talent is extremely good. If you go to a national tournament such as Perfect Game World Wood Bat in East Cobb, GA, you also realize there are a lot of talented kids that want the same thing your kid wants. Your son will see this too, and hopefully it will motivate him to work harder and want it more. That is the kind of drive it takes to get to the next level.

As the Dad of 2015 there is a lot you can do to prepare your son to improve his skills, desire and exposure to get to the next level. There will be distractions (ex. girls), academic demands, SATS & ACTS and many hurdles to cross to get there. I'm also the father of a 2015, and right now he (my youngest) is focused on making the JV team at a very, very competitive school. We're making summer plans for travel ball and rec ball to give him more experience. His previous casual interest in baseball has turned into a passion in the last year, which I'm more than happy to accomodate. All of the sudden he realizes he has talent and he want to develop it. As a parent, I'm overjoyed he found something he likes to do and I'm more than willing to help. The rest is up to him.

Again, welcome and feel free to ask questions. There are so many knowledgeable people here from all sorts of backgrounds & baseball walks of life. If you ask for a perspective, you'll get many....trust me on that one. So, it is a great resource. I wake up to HSBBWeb every morning with a cup of coffee, and look forward to starting the day.

Best of luck!

Swampboy & Fenway,

Thanks for the excellent perspectives! My son has a pretty competitive summer lined up for baseball and so he will get a chance to see how he stands amongst his peers on the talent scale. He does love it though! Glad to hear that some programs will give pitchers a better look percentage-wise. Every little bit helps!

Fenway - you commented on academic money. Do they mix athletic money with academic money or is it either or? In reality, will colleges give an athlete that they are recruiting more academic money than they would for a similar academic student who was not an athlete?

Coaches don't have a say in academic money. If the student meets the criteria any student would, he will be given the academic award. If he maintains a certain GPA through college he will get that amount every year so it is more certain then an athletic award.

What one coach told my son was we are prepared to give you X percent.Also, based on your academics we think you can get another 8K from academic ofiice on top of our offer. If the academic dept does not give you the 8K we will make up the difference from our scholly $$. They seem to be quite certain he would get at least 5K possibly 8K.

Also expect various levels of academic awards from different schools. One school said very possible to get 20k academic based on gpa and grades. Another school said zero for son's academic backround.

CH .... Don't stop saving for college. At the D1 level unless your kid is a stud expect 25%. At the D2 level there are only 7.2 scholarships to spread around the team. At the D3 level it's zippo. There's a better shot at academic money. There's twenty-times as much academic money as athletic money. My daughter got 25% for softball and 50% for academics. My son got 50% for academics since he had to walk on due to injuries. We'll see what the future brings.

The coach can decide any year whether to continue the athletic ride. The student-athlete is in control of the academic money by maintaining the required gpa stated in the terms and conditions. The requirement is usually maintaining a 3.0.

Don't get sticker shock looking at college list prices. A friend's son is at a prestigious academic private university. The sticker price is 55K. He's paying 17K. The rest is covered by academic and financial need. From personal experience and talking with other parents the expensive colleges will poke around the affordability question with parents. My son's travel coach once had a talk with me where he asked if (college) is interested how much can I afford. He knew what kind of money would be offered from various schools.

Academics matter. If your son has trouble with any subjects get a tutor. Get him in an SAT prep class or with an SAT tutor when it's time.

Thanks everyone for the additional insights! I've been telling my son that grades are important and now I have even more ammunition! Fortunately he is a fairly good student (3.4 GPA) but should be doing a little better than he is. Academic money would be fantastic! Not expecting a lot from the financial need aspect. Our EFC from the FASFA is not helping. The government says I can afford a whole lot more for college than I think I can! I'm sure that's true for everybody not matter what level!

Forgot to ask! Would a school grant in-state rates to out-of-state athletes? That may be easier to swallow financially.

quote:

Originally posted by CH10Dad:
Forgot to ask! Would a school grant in-state rates to out-of-state athletes? That may be easier to swallow financially.

Don't confuse financial need money with academic money.

Does anyone know what an acceptible GPA is to even consider Academic $?

quote:

Originally posted by CBMDad:
Does anyone know what an acceptible GPA is to even consider Academic $?

Depends on the school. Many schools it is posted right on their Financial Aid portion or scholarship portion of their website.

If you have this GPA and this ACT or SAT then you automatically receive this amount of $$$. However you could then also apply for other scholarships that are offered.

quote:

Originally posted by shortnquick:

quote:

Originally posted by CBMDad:
Does anyone know what an acceptible GPA is to even consider Academic $?

Depends on the school. Many schools it is posted right on their Financial Aid portion or scholarship portion of their website.

If you have this GPA and this ACT or SAT then you automatically receive this amount of $$$. However you could then also apply for other scholarships that are offered.

My son is receiving a lot of emails from colleges based on academics. I recently sent an email and asked about merit scholarships I got a reply which was just like this says. I was surprised at how much he would qualify for.

We were given the advice to focus on grades, grades, grades very early on. Excellent advice!

quote:

Originally posted by Pluto:

quote:

Originally posted by CBMDad:
Does anyone know what an acceptible GPA is to even consider Academic $?

The ACT/SAT scores will be combined with the GPA for most of the academic scholly's I've seen. Lowest/minimum levels are probably 24 ACT/3.0 and go up from there. Get a >30 ACT and have a 4.0 and you'll probably be at the top of the heap...

quote:

Fenway - you commented on academic money. Do they mix athletic money with academic money or is it either or? In reality, will colleges give an athlete that they are recruiting more academic money than they would for a similar academic student who was not an athlete?

CH10Dad,

Looks like you got your answer. I was travelling yesterday.

I'd like to make two additional points. Point 1, academic scholarship come in different forms. It is important to understand the details. In our situation 2 years ago, my son would have easily qualified for some academic scholarships at one school that he was very interested in. However, we would have to apply ED (binding) to be considered for the scholarship money, and they wouldn't tell us how much. Essentially telling us that "yes, we have money but we can't tell you how much until your son applies and is compared to the other candidates in the pool". One was a departmental scholarship ($15K/year) all the way up to a (full ride $50K) presidential scholarship...there were no guarantees of anything in their process. We weren't willing to play this game of "guess how much money I'm holding in my hand". Point 2, is that you will generally see the most academically competitive schools will offer the least amount of academic money. These schools typically offer need based financial aid (not academic scholarships) as most of the students already have strong academics. Plus there is much demand with little supply for admittance. As you move down the competitive academic continuum of schools, you'll see more academic $$. That was our experience.

Thanks for everyone's insights! Everyone keeps telling my son that grades are an important factor in his baseball career so hopefully that has been sinking in! From a money standpoint, I guess be prepared for nothing and figure it out as we go. But I do feel more educated about people's specific experiences. Thanks!