Maximizing Your Athletic Scholarship Money

Getting an athletic scholarship is one of the biggest achievements for any recruit. And it is something to truly be proud of. But athletic scholarship money is hard to come by, and often times an offer you receive may not be as good as another one. Or worse, it may not even be for as much money as you may need to attend. It is possible to negotiate additional scholarship dollars but doing so will require to know the recruiting game. 

Coaches will offer an athlete the least amount of money they believe will get them on campus. So the primary reasons that they may raise an offer will be motivated by trying to get you to commit over another college. Coaches raise scholarship offers for the following reasons.

• Their recruiting budget has changed, and they now have more money available to offer you.

• You have improved your recruiting level, and they have to offer you more money to be competitive with the new offers you may be receiving.

• They are afraid you will choose another school over them, and will raise their scholarship offer to be more competitive.

If you are in a “head-count” D1 sport, there is not much negotiation to do for your scholarship. There will either be a scholarship offer available for you, or a walk-on offer. But equivalency sports are primarily based on athletes being offered partial scholarships so the dollar amounts can almost always fluctuate.

Be patient when looking for athletic scholarships

When you get athletic scholarship offers you should always take time to consider it. Unless it is a full-ride scholarship to a school you really want to attend, you should take time to consider the offer and compare it with others. Talking it over with your family should be a priority because many scholarship offers may not cover even most of the cost of attendance.

You should also be unafraid to ask questions about the offer. If things are unclear about what the coach is really able to offer, then you should feel free to ask. The offer is proof that the coach wants you, so there should be space to talk further about it. Some scholarship offers are “stacked” with other financial aid money so you should understand where all the money is coming from and how to keep it.

Use one offer as leverage with another coach

When one coach sees value in you and offers you, it can make other coaches take notice. Specifically if it is a school that is in their conference, or perhaps a rival, the coach will have to determine whether or not they have someone else that is better than you to offer. Coaches at each level are essentially competing with each other for a lot of the same athletes. So letting a coach know that one school has already offered you a specific package, can be one way to convince them to match it. This type of negotiation should only be used if you really do have a top choice school and will have to consider going somewhere else because their athletic scholarship offer is better. If you politely and honestly talk to the coach there is a chance they will raise their offer.

Coach Rob’s Note: Don’t go under-recruited! I put in the hard work for you to know exactly which colleges already want to recruit you, which ones will view you as a top recruit, and how to get their attention. Book a meeting with me, Coach Rob, and see how easy it can be to get the offers you deserve!

Keep the lines of communication open with coaches

In general you will receive scholarship offers at different points in your recruiting journey. As a result, you will have to continue to speak with coaches so they know where you are in your decision making process. If a school offers you, and later another few offer you, then you should communicate with them that you are still deciding. Coaches cannot change their offer, or extend one, if they don’t know what time table you are working with. That said your communication should be genuine. You should always build a relationship with any coach first, preferably over multiple conversations before any discussion about offers is brought up by you.

Make coaches aware of gaps in your financial aid

A compelling reason for a coach to increase their scholarship offer amount, is based off of financial need. Once your family has an EFC “estimated family contribution” through the FAFSA, you can communicate to coaches if the aid you are being offered, does not match that documentation.  There is no guarantee that a coach can raise their offer, but they may be willing to do what they can to get closer to the dollar amount that you need. Colleges give different types of aid make sure to consider your total financial aid package, including athletic scholarship first, and compare it with your EFC. If the coach really wants you they will do whatever they can to get you if the gap in the finances is a legitimate need.

The bottom line

The art of negotiation is a tricky one, so be careful to always be respectful and professional in your discussions with coaches. Most college coaches will offer you what they believe they can so do not get discouraged if a coach is unable to change their offer. If you seek to collect offers and simply play one school against the other, coaches will pick up on it. But if you operate with integrity coaches will respond to that and look to give you the best possible offer they can.

Coach Rob is a recruiting expert and the Founder of SCA Recruiting. He is also the author of the book Winning the Ship: How to Win the College Athlete Recruitment Game. Available now on Amazon.