Merit Aid > Athletic Aid
We talk about scholarships a lot. The cost of school continues to rise, wages don’t seem to keep up, and families everywhere are looking for ways to relieve the pressure of college costs. For as long as any of us can remember, athletic scholarships have been coveted achievements for all student-athletes wanting to compete in college. Not only is it an acknowledgment of success, but it’s also a financial relief for one of the most expensive investments any individual will make. If movie scripts were in charge, athletic scholarships would be the “golden ticket” for every athlete that earns one, but last time I checked the universe isn’t willing to hire script writers.
While an athletic scholarship is always appreciated, the reality is that only about 5.6% of college athletes enjoy a “full-ride” scholarship. Many others are simply getting books paid for, and the average athletic scholarship sits around $7,000. A great discount on school, yes, but not an amount that is going to cover all costs for the vast majority of schools.
Where athletic scholarships thrive, however, is in conjunction with academic merit aid. There is approximately 17x MORE academic merit aid available to students across US colleges and universities, and that money can almost always be combined with athletic aid at any institution.
Not only is there a larger amount of merit aid to pull from, but a coach knowing they don’t have to provide as much athletic aid to “make the numbers work” for families is a vastly underrated recruiting tool as well. If you can be picked up for “cheaper” than someone else of equal talent, you’ve just won a tiebreaker for a roster spot. As we preach to our kids every year, great grades make great recruits.
It’s important to note the visual above, and truly understand where scholarship money is coming from. Athletic scholarships are great and should be pursued whenever possible, but outside of the 5.6% of students earning full rides, studying for that next exam is one of the best recruiting strategies a student-athlete can implement.
