I’m not going to lie, like many people here do. Our player needs a scholarship to go to college. There’s no way we can afford it. She is a good player but not the top player on her ECNL team. She’s got good grades, As and Bs at our local public school. I have read don’t hope for scholarships but we are. We are also hoping for financial aid and grants. We are not cutting soccer and putting soccer money into savings as she loves the sport and hopes to play in college. So can someone give advice that’s not snarky on the best options for a kid who wants to play college soccer but has parents who can’t pick up the bill?
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First, you need to have very frank discussions about how much you can afford to contribute and that the rest needs to be on her via scholarships and loans. The best way to maximize scholarship $ is to target well. That means places that really want you (school and coach). The $ go up the more you're above their typical applicant or player. Be open to opportunities, keep an open mind. There may need to be some minor compromises, but if she finds she's bending too much then your family needs to revisit priorities.
Also keep in mind her taking on some debt isn't the end of the world. It's not a bad thing for them to own a piece of their education. Taking the federal loans means graduating with about $25K in loans, pretty manageable. Fed loans are capd at that much over 4 years. Avoid private loans - the loan terms are way worse than the federal -
Please don't take this the wrong way, but what does she want to go to school for? Does she want to go to school or just extend her soccer years? If she isn't sure or undecided on a major, maybe a gap year are a better choice. Especially if college is a stretch financially.
If she knows what she wants and the path involves a real job, not art history of transgender studies major, then look public in and out of state and then look private. I agree with the above poster target down the food chain a little so she plays a little above her level can help.
Also, you can consider the Midwest as schools both public and private are generally far less expensive. But you would want to visit first ($) otherwise she may hate it and be miserable.
Good luck
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She wants to be a teacher or child psych/ counselor. She wants to play college soccer because she loves it and wants to be part of the school.Originally posted by Guest View PostComment
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State school or have her take out the loans and help out as much as you can. Or, depending on her level, lower D1 that can give more money for a player they want. She needs to decide what’s most important to her and there are no wrong answers.Comment
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Teacher? Then definitely try to come out debt free. Pay for entry level teachers is low + she'll probably need a masters degree. Don't ignore the pricey privates - many have huge endowments for students they want and can readily match, even beat state schools. Cast a very wide net and see what kinds of offers she gets. It's possible to get close to a free ride but it's probably not going to come from athletic $ alone. Make sure she keeps up her grades and does well on ACT or SAT (yes it's optional some schools but having good scores makes a difference). Good players with good grades have more options. Don't ignore extra curriculars either.Originally posted by Guest View PostComment
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First, pick a school in a state with high paying teachers (it will be much easier to break into a school district with connections and a degree from a school within the state). Second, don't ignore d3 schools with high sticker prices. For many schools, this is a marketing ploy. No one pays full price. Many of these school also offer money for athletes but not athletic scholarships per se. Third, don't be afraid of loans. There is no better guaranteed roi than a college education (as along as you pick a marketable degree). Lastly, the dirtiest little secret of d1 athletics is that athletes are often prohibited from pursuing challenging (marketable) degrees. I don't know if education falls into that group but make sure you do your homework.Comment
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Teaching is a field that seems to always need people. It’s also a nice job for someone who wants to be a coach on the side, and summers off to travel or be a parent. If you can go D1 I would look at a state school as they have good teaching programs. Not sure which private colleges have them? I believe education majors have flexibility to also play D1 as the major doesn’t require labs etc.
Top 2 States: Teachers are making- New York: $90,222
- Massachusetts: $86,755
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You could always drop down a level from ECNL into a cheaper program with less travel, and put the rest of the money towards the college fund. It sounds like top D1 is well out of reach for her, both on a financial and talent level so why waste money chasing it?Comment
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Some of the highest COLA states too. Entry level teacher pay is way less. Unfortunately many have dropped out after 5 years too. It's a very rewarding but challenging profession.Originally posted by Guest View Post
Many privates have respected teaching programs. As others have said privates can often do better wirh aid vs your state school. Grad school will probably be in the cards too so take that into accountComment
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There are 330 D1 programs plus D2 schools with athletic money. Garnering a decent athletic scholarship is more about targeting than anything else and theres many opportunitiesout there outside of top programs. Plus many D3s give great $ of they want you.Originally posted by Guest View Post
Sounds like the ops kid is in the last final push. Saving a few grand is not going to dramatically change their savings account and they'd lose the best platform for exposure.Comment
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Telling a kid to move to the regional team to save money is a good idea if in 8th grade, but if mid way high school I’d finish up the soccer on current team with friends and coach you like. It’s refreshing to hear of a kid who wants to go into teaching. Less and less of the upcoming generation showing interest in this field. I bet there are scholarships for those who want to specifically be teachers on top of coming in as a soccer player. UMass colleges as well as UNH, URI, and UVM may have opportunities for soccer scholarships and teacher grants.Comment
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Honestly sometimes the D1 scholarship isn’t always what it cracks up to be. Assuming a roster of 28 (just for math purposes) and you have 14 available, conceivably that could be split at 50% for each player. Assume that is what is awarded and with a $50k tuition (again, just mathing here) that would come to $25k you are responsible for.
After that is awarded, the Financial Aid office looks to see what you qualify for and takes that into account. We did a mock financial aid and it looked like we would get about 50% off tuition. Her first year athletic scholarship was that same amount. When the aid came through, we didn’t get anything. I believe if she had no scholarship she would’ve got the same aid, just allocated differently There is no way our financials were looked at and they thought we didn’t qualify for a break off the full tuition.
Now in future years her scholarship goes up so we could still end up ahead. And while they say academic and athletic can be layered on top of each other, she didn’t get any academic dollars which surprised everyone. I wont be convinced everything wasnt looked at for that first year and the school decided we could pay “X” and moved the numbers around from whatever bucket to make it fit.Comment
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You never know until they give you the final deal, which is why casting a wide net matters. A school you thought wasn't affordable very well may be.Comment
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Look at Southern New Hampshire University. Programs for future teachers and good D2 soccer. Just an option to exploreComment
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