<p>My son plays football at NESCAC school. A co-worker just walked into my office and relayed a story I found odd. Her friend has a son that just applied ED to a NESCAC school. Received a football slot. The coach told them that they would be receiving substantial financial aid because (and this is a quote form the coach) "we have influential football alums that are willing to contribute financially to make sure we get the best players."</p>
<p>Does this sound right?
The friend in question wouldn't know enough to even make that up.</p>
<p>Maybe it's commonplace, it just took me aback with the NESCAC.</p>
<p>It’s a violation of NCAA rules for boosters/alums to “enhance” the financial aid package for athletes - that basically amounts to paying a recruit.</p>
<p>Have schools been known to circumvent the rules by offering endowed “leadership” scholarships for athletes? I’ve heard rumors of that - not in the NESCAC, though. Or maybe the alums donated generously to increase the FA endowment available to all students, including athletes.</p>
<p>Or another thought, the kid may be getting a great need-based FA offer but the family explains it as a ‘wink and nod’ sort of thing that’s offered to great athletes rather than what it is, which is need-based aid.</p>
<p>Many people, probably the majority of them, don’t know the difference between an athletic scholarship, a merit/academic scholarship, and need-based aid. I’m guessing this is the case at the NESCAC school, and would guess that the football player is getting a generous need-based aid package, which is the norm at NESCAC schools for all students.</p>
<p>My cousin’s daughter plays field hockey at a 4th-tier Division 3 school, and was barely able to get in even there. Her grandmother (my aunt) said she has a partial athletic scholarship there. My cousin (the field hockey player’s father) works hard but earns little, and the family probably has an EFC of zero. What she is getting is need-based aid, I’m sure. Perhaps because she plays field hockey, they are giving her more aid at this school, which doesn’t meet need, than she would be given if she wasn’t an athlete. I doubt it, however. No one in the family attended college, so they don’t have the vaguest idea how financial aid works. Since the coach talked recruited her and she is going to college for less than the $40,000 price tag, they think she has been given an athletic scholarship.</p>
<p>I’ve been hearing people say that someone they know has been given an athletic scholarship at a Division 3 school for 35 years. They simply don’t know how financial aid works.</p>
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<p>When I was in college, there were always rumors floating around that some star athlete at one of the other Ivies (never the one I attended) was having some or all of his costs paid for by one of their alums under the table. Considering it was always at a rival school, I figure that these claims were inaccurate.</p>