My son has been offered scholarship and spot on team at D2 school. He can either sign NLI and receive Athletic Scholarship or get the same amount as Merit aid and be a walk on. Any one have experience and can share what things I should be thinking about in considering which one to take? Aside from the pressure of having to commit to the school within the next few days!
If he takes the athletic money, what happens if he’s injured? What happens if he decides that he doesn’t want to play?
The merit may be the least risky…but what GPA is needed to keep it?
What is his major and career goal?
How demanding is this sport? Travel? Missing classes?
There are a few things the athletic money cannot be used for, like travel, insurance, non-required school fees. Sometimes merit money at schools can only be used for tuition, not room and board. Just checked for any restrictions but it probably doesn’t make any difference to the bottom line unless either award is ‘full ride’ as then the exclusions will matter. Are there any gpa requirements for keeping the merit money year to year? Can outside scholarships be stacked with either or both types of aid? Does the coach care? If your son doesn’t use the athletic award, can the coach use it for another recruit who many not qualify for the merit aid?
There is a lot to be said for signing the NLI. You are DONE! It was really nice for my daughter, and me, to be done. She could then tell other schools that she was committed. The actual signing in Nov. was fun but a small thing, but the celebratory signing in April with all the other athletes was a big deal and more fun than graduation.
My daughter got to accept both the merit award and athletic money, and her school was thrilled to stack any outside money. I think if given the choice, she’d have taken the athletic money and not been a walk on. The coach would have preferred daughter take the merit aid and leave the athletic money for other players. Would he really be considered a walk on just because he’s getting no athletic money, not have a guaranteed place on the team? Will he be excluded from the high school athletic/NLI celebrations if he doesn’t have an athletic scholarship? At our high school, everyone who was going to play in college got to participate and getting money wasn’t necessary (we had a lot of D3, jr college, a service academy, and several non NCAA ‘signers’). At a neighboring high school, they did individual NLI celebrations, so those not signing missed out.
Thanks. This is great information. I didn’t even know about the celebratory signing stuff. I’ll have to ask if they do anything at his HS. I think he would have a gpa requirement no matter which one he takes and I’m not too concerned about that. He can’t stack the scholarships, but I think if he gets an outside scholarship he can accept this. Do you know what happens if he wants to transfer at some point and is on athletic scholarship?
The athletic scholarship doesn’t transfer (nor would the merit) but if he is playing under an athletic scholarship, he may be required to sit out a year before playing for another team that is in the NLI program. I don’t know if that’s just for playing for the team or only if he’s signed an NLI. If it is because he signed the NLI, then he’d be better off with the merit scholarship. ASK that question. You can ask the NCAA.
Is the merit scholarship available after freshmen year if he doesn’t take it now? It may not be. The athletic money should be.