FAFSA

I think most schools want a FAFSA even if you don't qualify for Pell Grants or subsidized loans. They may use the information to rank order your child as compared to others seeking financial aid from the school. If your family makes a moderate income you won't qualify for Pell Grants or other federally supported loans. Everyone qualifies for a deferred low interest loan (in the student's name) but there are fairly low ceilings on how much can be borrowed but the amount rises each year.

I would suggest you talk seriously with coaches and financial aid folks at schools in which you are looking about limits on assistance based upon family income. After we filled out a FAFSA (required for academic assistance at one school) a limit was placed on total assistance the school would give - academic and athletic. The coach had offered one amount and she was to get a second amount for academic but the two combined were over the amount the school projected based upon the FAFSA. We went elsewhere.

 

Every school has different policies and different funds available, so it's good to evaluate several options. Just because one school doesn't have anything to offer financially doesn't mean another one won't. And many times there is more academic money available than athletic money.

Additionally, some scholarships you apply for may require a FAFSA. The financial aid folks at my daughter's school told us that even if you don't qualify for federal aid, if a scholarship comes in and they have all your information, you can be considered for it, whereas otherwise you might not be.

 

This needs to be added to all the preps boards, especially those that usually have partial scholarships offered.
This is good stuff to know!

 

Relating the Fafsa with the student-athlete's becomes very important for so many reasons; particularly when it applies to a private school. But being an athlete provides the school and its coach many options.

Private school coaches want to give their recruits a "total package"---not just an athletic offer. They need the fafsa as earlier as possible so they can work with the financial aid office to try to make their "best" package possible.

But being an athlete can produce results not found with non-athletes---and here's why. The athletic coach has 30-50 players on their squads (depending if they have a JV program.) Most private schools cost in the $30,000 range. You can do the math what the coaches are bringing in to the school's revenue. So, if you are a talented athlete and have good grades, it's not uncommon for the coach to go to the Chancellor and ask for more "aid" when needed...and rarely does a coach get turned down.

 

Good post

With my daughter they found a great deal of academic money due to her HS GPA, class rank, and SAT scores. Made the private school more affordable.

 

You should note that all DI and DII have limits on the number of athletic scholarships by sport by NCAA rules. Many schools, especially those without revenue producing football programs, do not fully fund all the scholarships the rules allow. For example, men's soccer is allowed up to 9 full scholarships by NCAA rules (with a roster of 20 or more) but the school my son attended only "funded" 3 full scholarships. (I say funded because I don't think they "funded" any athletic scholarships with real money but athletes were given a tuition discount equal to an amount of money) Thus, you need to know how many scholarships the NCAA allows and ask how many the school funds. You should also ask how many are committed. We would simply ask a coach, "Do you have any athletic money for my son (or daughter)".

Now, private schools are often more liberal with their "academic" money which can also lesson the cost of the school. We took academic money because all of the athletic money was taken but signed a letter of intent to insure a place on the team without the need for a walk-on tryout - we committed and they committed.

However, only laster 1 semester - .8 GPA did him in for NCAA eligilbility. It doesn't matter the source if you don't stay eligible.

 

Work Study

FAFSA also calculates the oppurtunity for a student to recieve federal work study, and how much. Some schools offer instutional work study, but only after students have done their FAFSA, and been denied federal work study. And for athletes usually this is the best oppurtunity for them to earn some money while at school, tough to be a part time worker, on top of a full time student, and full time athlete.