The Athletic-Academic Connection: Part I

Financial Aid Packaging: Colleges’ Way of Making Freshman Year Affordable

Packaging is a term used by college admissions officials and coaches to describe financial assistance for prospective  college student-athletes.  It occurs at every level of college sports, even NCAA Division I.  

Surprised?  Well, you aren’t alone.  Very few parents and athletes are aware this happens, much less expect it, yet most families encounter this very common strategy when working with college coaches and admissions departments. 

All things regarding financial aid for a freshman athlete begin with academics.  Once an admissions office has received a prospect’s official high school transcript along with proof of standardized test scores (SAT or ACT), decisions regarding financial assistance can start in earnest.  Three high school academic measuring sticks are examined to establish academic scholarships:

• Unweighted, core course grade point average
• Class rank
• Standardized test score

With these scores in hand, any admissions officer can calculate a prospect’s basic academic award.  Other issues can be influential, but the foundation of any academic scholarship is built on these three key factors.  College credits earned while in high school, advanced placement classes and other recommendations can add more to the base amount. 

After the academic award number is finalized, the admissions office then considers merit, institutional, state and other  scholarships which the prospective student may be eligible to receive.  They then add any need-based award assigned to the student by the Department of Education.  Parents must submit a copy of their personal financial status to the school as well as fill out and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to determine this amount.  In this process, the Department of Education seeks to determine if a family qualifies for the Pell Grant or any other free federal monies.   Finally, the admissions office tacks on any state or federal loans to supplement the package and lower the immediate cash outlay for the family.

College coaches, knowing all this, will ask freshmen (and JUCO) prospects to apply to the college prior to committing to an athletic scholarship amount.  Once that information is in hand, the coach then can add an athletic scholarship dollar number to the package.  Knowing that most families want their out-of-pocket expense to be at or below what they might otherwise spend for their child to attend an in-state, public institution, coaches will typically attempt to add an amount which will help the family reach or exceed that goal.  This amount can also be influenced by any one or more of these important issues:

• The amount of athletic scholarship money available to the coach after taking into account the other committed scholarships to current players and prospects
• The coach’s opinion of the prospect’s anticipated impact on the program
• Anticipated competition with other college coaches to sign the prospect
• The quality of the relationship established with the prospect and parents
• The quality of the relationship and reliability of the sources which connected the coach with the prospect
• The expectation of capturing a another prospect closely connected to the prospect such as a teammate or sibling

The final package is then sent to the family for their consideration.  In some cases, the amounts are negotiable which gives the parents the option to get a few more dollars here or there from the college.  As for the athletic scholarship amount*, that depends almost solely on the coach and the value he or she attaches to the prospect. 

Next in this series, we will examine how and why college coaches are limited in regards to which prospects they can or will recruit and the connection to academics in that part of the recruiting process.