Even though um is approaching meeting full need, you’d think that the demo of the kids that get admitted oos would skew strongly towards full pay.
@northwesty Yes. I think that could be true. I know families where kids got admitted to Michigan engineering or business and not into UIUC at those programs. Being full pay prob didn’t hurt.
My daughter chose a school with big time D1 sports (particularly football). She applied only to large public flagships with big time D1 sports. I think the school spirit and the gameday comaraderie definitely enhanced her experience and gave her a connection to the school that will be long lasting. We also enjoyed attending games and will be forever fans of her school (those bookend national championships her freshman and senior years definitely helped). I would not have been a fan of her choosing a school solely for D1 sports, but her school also has good academics. I completely understand seeking out the big D1 experience and it makes total sense to me, but we live in Big 10 territory where lots of kids do so (although my daughter headed for an SEC school).
Big time sports is something S18 wants, but it isn’t a deal breaker. University of Maryland is our state flagship, but he doesn’t like the selection of majors. He also doesn’t want to go to the deep south, and the Big Ten schools are likely to be too expensive out of state even if he got in.
D20 is also intoxicated by the lure of Big Time College Sports. We’re in SEC country, so it’s not too surprising. As others have noted, there are several large, sports-oriented schools that can provide a great education. They flyover states are full of them! An added bonus - most (if not all) of the large schools have active alumni chapters in major cities, so there are lots of great networking opportunities upon graduation.
@mstomper: That would depend on stats and profile.
MSU, OSU, IU, and UNL do have scholarships for high-achieving kids. UMTC has relatively reasonable OOS tuition (and also scholarships).
But in any case, I would think a giant flagship like UMCP would have every major under the sun.
I waited too long to edit my post (#64) @pantha33m , but I did tell Little Tutu that she was free to choose any school within certain financial parameters. So, if Alabama or Ole Miss wants to give her enough money, I’m fine with her choosing them, but I am not going to pay tens of thousands of dollars extra over scholarship/grant money from a smaller school to send her to a big school just for the sports scene. It ended up being the motivator for her to actually open her PSAT study guide. We’ll see what happens.
Many of the big D1 programs are self-supporting ; paying for the coaches, athletic scholarships and all of the non-revenue athletes too. Bama even partly funds its NMF scholarships from logo royalties, TV and tickets. So for some of the large D1 schools you can make the case that sports enhance academics. Football draws more male students which helps the gender imbalance too. Many small colleges have D1 teams, look at BB and WBB powerhouses and hockey schools like Union.
Wow. lots of kids with the D1 spirit. Nice!
Michigan has been improving financial aid recently.
However, it admission process results in a frosh class that is very skewed toward those from high SES, so few from low SES can take advantage of its improved financial aid. For example, Michigan still uses legacy in admission.
College sports on TV are one of the few ways to stay connected to your Alma mater after graduating, even if it is a few football or basketball games per year. Not many people search the internet to find a history lecture or a tour of an art museum from their old school.
Sports seem to tap into tribal & primal urges we have to be part of a group and compete against rival groups. Nothing wrong with that.