Hi,
How does it work for a student/athlete who is getting a full athletic scholarship. And also has qualified as National Merit Scholar? Athletic scholarships are renewed on annual basis. Meaning 4 years are not guaranteed until signing annually. Can a student still benefit from the National Merit? Can it be applied for future school related expenses? Thank you
By full scholarship do you mean a D1 scholarship in a headcount sport? Most other “full” scholarships I’ve seen are not actually covering 100% of the COA, and if that’s the case they could probably be combined.
An athlete can combine a merit scholarship with an athletic scholarship as long as certain stats are obtained (and a NMF would certainly have those).
If it really is a full NCAA scholarship, including the stipend, the student can’t get more than the COA. For ex., the student can take the Pell grant or the stipend, but not both if either amount brings the student up to COA. Whether the NMF scholarship can be deferred to grad school would be up to the school or the sponsor. If there are things that aren’t covered (travel, books, fees) the school might allow the NM award to be used for those.
Most coaches in equivalency sports are thrilled to have merit scholarships, from the school or from outside sources, to be applied first. If can save the program some money that can then be used for others on the team. It doesn’t really change your OOP if your tuition is half merit/half athletics or all paid by athletics.
Thank you both. Yes, D1 head count sport. As of now she is Merit National semifinalist. And will submit the paperwork for finalist.
Becoming a NMF does not guarantee NM Scholar. It depends on the school and where the National Merit Scholarship comes from (corporate, college, or College Board). My dd was a NMF in 2019. She received a NM Scholarship through her dads corporation for 4 years. That had to be used right out of high school. The university she is attending provided a generous 4 year merit scholarship (not full cost of attendance but full cost of tuition) which was “National Merit Scholars preferred”, but not specifically titled as a National Merit Scholarship, so she could accept both the corporate and university sponsored awards. She also received an athletic scholarship through the university. For our child, we encouraged her to maximize the academic scholarships first, then use any athletic scholarship money as a “bonus”. After all, they are going to get an education and be students. If for some reason they quit athletics due to academic conflicts the merit money will still be there for them.
The student is at a D1 school in a headcount sport. I think the issue is whether she can take both the full athletic scholarships and another merit scholarship, and I think the answer is no, she can’t get more than the full headcount scholarship. The school would probably be happy with the money from an outside source, but the end result to the student is still going to be a full COA scholarship with no ‘overage’ money. In a headcount sport, the coach can’t do anything with the extra money either.