college cost reality

[crankshaft]

Been quiet heybucket everybody wake up!
How about little feedback on the real cost of college.
What's your experiences on the cost and scholarship assistance. Both academic or athletic or combined?

D1 money depending on your skill level and positions possibly like pitcher or catcher. D2 get the combo. Athletics help at these levels.
But D3, while Athletics can open up the door to get in, no athletic money. Most of these schools are over $38,000 per year. Many in low $40s and go up $60~.
With a low 3.0 GPA maybe only get 45% yearly academic scholarship. 3.8 GPA perhaps you're going to get 80% academic scholarship. How many are actually getting 95% to a D3 private school? Common with 3.8 around 80%-85%.

Do the math, looks like you're still going to be paying some college debt. That's worth considering.

JUCO schools out of state with that type of gpa 3.o and up are willing to pay full package of academics housing and food stipend. Think that's definitely worth considering saving $10 to $35,000 a year for the first two years of college!

What are you all considering out there in heybucket land?
What worked out for your daughter?

[crankshaft]

What percentage gets 100%?

[crankshaft]

What percentage gets 100%?

Guessing 5% get 100%
The few times I have heard of people getting a 100%, they were an All-American player or top starting pitchers and academics GPA in the 4.8 and higher.

[jonriv]

A small percentage

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/softball.htm

[eddiez577]

A small percentage

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/softball.htm

Thank you for the link! Good info there. It's not unrealistic, but it certainly helps keep things in perspective.
Does also show that dedication, persistence, goal-making and time management are great attributes to hold for HS looking to go to College.
These same attributes are found in the real world, where I personally know very successful employees and business owners who didn't go to college, but were able to develop very successful careers with the same tenets.

[jonriv]

Many schools will try to supplement partial scholarship with a combination of aid,academic etc monies(money btw the student would be entitled to regardless of being an athlete) There is money out there and for the top recruits quite plentiful-for the vast majority that is not the case. A great example for this are the Ivy League schools- there is NO academic money(or athletic money either) only needs based. There are however many private merit based scholarships.

Suffice to say, making a full-ride scholarship a student's primary college finance plan in generally a poor plan. That's not to say a student/athlete should not strive for one. As mentioned there are many benefits in the pursuit and frankly their are many benefits from being a student athlete. The numbers just show that as a primary plan,it is just not sound.

You hear the term Academic money get thrown around a lot. The ugly truth is that most "academic" money is "needs-based" As those of us that have kids that are either in or have graduated from college- you fill out the federal forms to see what money you qualify for and its usually not that much if any. If you are middle class or above and/or own a home there is probably not that much money there. Its a hard truth that most parents do not realize until it is too late

College finance planning really needs to start at birth- a systematic, dollar cost averaging plan is a tried and true method to accumulate the money needed for a college education(which can range from $80,00-$250,000) Invest the money given at birth, first communion, Bar Mizvah< confirmation, birthdays etc) Putting away money every pay period no matter how small is the way to go-time is the friend(and enemy) of goal oriented investment. There are 529 plans and several state plans that are ideal vehicles to saving for college

I have been in the financial services industry for thirty years. Many people simply do not have the money or the means to save for college-fortunately there are programs to help those people. However, far too often I have seen people that have the means, but simply do not put the money aside that is needed(for retirement too!) My wife and I were fortunate too have gotten good advice early on and we implemented a long term plan. This allowed us to save enough to have 2 kids go to very good(and expensive ) schools with money left over.

If you have a finance plan in place and a athletic scholarship becomes available even better. It gives you freedom of choice and the ability to free up money for other children and/or graduate school.

An athletic scholarship can be a wonderful thing, the pursuit is great, but it has been my experience that many more aspiring softball athletes fall to the wayside than actually reach the prize.

[xyzdude]

Great link jonriv. I can view this all in the rearview mirror as we are well past the college years. Having had three who played sports at various levels - DI, DIII and club, I can say that the experience at all levels is worthwhile even if it may be different. DI daughter had the road trip experiences that DIII daughter did not often have, while DIII daughter learned how to plan "captains" practices and workouts. DI daughter had a range of academic services from which to choose while DIII daughter was more on her own for academics but also was on campus much more to interact with faculty members. Club sport son learned to compete with a hangover, raise money for his club, plan travel for a team and met and partied with athletes from all over the country.

My opinion is that parents of athletes get too hung up on level, athletic money, playing time, etc. and miss the important things that are really the parents job. We viewed things this way:
-sports was the kid's thing, our job was to help facilitate what we could for them, and provide emotional support for the ups and downs.
-education was the primary purpose of college and sports is simply an enhancement of the experience. Our expectation was excellence in the classroom and do your best on the field of play - but the focus was on academics.
-handle your own shit - don't get along with the coach, deal with it. You are an adult, figure it out.
-plan for life beyond sports, the best is yet to come (really, does anyone want their child to peak at age 21?)

We also made sure that our children had some skin in the game. Even though we were able to pay for their college in full, we made each child responsible for something (for example, their own books or spending money). We made sure that each knew that part of the cost of their college was a loan that they would have to repay. We did different things for each child depending on their own ability and needs, but they all had a stake in the results of college and we wanted them to be invested in their own success.

The best part is having "former" athletes who now focus their attention on trying to beat dad on the golf course or the tennis court. Enjoy the experience and good luck.

[jonriv]

I agree with skin in the game. My two children both worked summers and both had on campus jobs.

[McGee]

The reality is softball will rarely cover the complete cost of college at any level. Depending on parental income level, academic standing and individual school selectivity schools can and will help students who need and/or warrant financial aid.

Go to the best, most affordable school you can.

[Battle]

Question...What is college cost reality?

Answer...No matter how you look at it.......A LOT and don't let anyone tell you any different.