She was looking for help identifying schools that were the right match for her athletically, as well as academically. Ally lives in North Andover, Massachusetts and chose to work with Great College Advice to help her find the colleges that were the right fit.

Here she is explaining how it worked…in her own words.

Frequently Asked Questions: Athlete Scholarships

Which athletes receive the biggest college scholarships?

Athletes who combine strong academic credentials with athletic ability receive the largest overall aid packages. Outside of full-ride sports (including men’s football, hockey and basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics), the students who earn the most scholarship money often times are those with the highest grades and test scores.

Do all Division 1 athletes get full athletic scholarships?

No. Full-ride athletic scholarships exist only in a small number of revenue-generating sports. Many D1 programs — especially in Olympic sports like track, swimming, and tennis — divide a limited budget across an entire roster or have a set number of full-ride scholarships to offer top recruits. Some D1 schools offer no athletic scholarship money in certain sports at all.

What is the difference between head-count and equivalency sports?

Head-count sports (mainly football and basketball) allow each scholarship to cover a full ride for one athlete. Equivalency sports (most other NCAA sports) give coaches a total dollar amount that must be divided across the team — so a coach might split one full scholarship across three or four players. This is why most college athletes, even at D1 programs, receive only partial aid.

How much is the average college athletic scholarship?

Across all NCAA and NAIA divisions, the average athletic scholarship for an incoming student-athlete is approximately $12,500 per year. By comparison, the average academic financial aid award in 2024–2025 was nearly $17,000, with $12,000 in grants. Neither figure covers the full cost of attendance at most four-year institutions.

Can a student-athlete get both an athletic and academic scholarship?

Yes, and this is often the most financially advantageous outcome. Coaches actively recruit students with strong academics because they raise the team’s academic standing and reduce compliance risk. Those same students frequently qualify for institutional merit scholarships. The two awards can and do stack, particularly at Division 2 and Division 3 programs.

Do Division 3 athletes receive athletic scholarships?

No. NCAA Division 3 rules prohibit athletic scholarships. However, D3 schools — many of which are highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities — often provide generous merit-based and need-based aid to recruited athletes. A strong student-athlete at a D3 school may graduate with significantly less debt than a peer who received a partial athletic scholarship at a D1 program.

When should a student-athlete start the college recruiting process?

Earlier than most families expect. For students seriously pursuing athletic recruitment, the process ideally begins by sophomore year of high school, with information gathering starting in freshman year. Athletic recruits are often committed to a school before senior year begins — up to 18 months ahead of the standard application timeline.

What should a recruit ask a college coach during the recruiting process?

Key questions include: What is the team’s culture and how do players interact? What are the coach’s expectations during the season and off-season? What does a typical practice look like? What academic support — tutors, advisors, study halls — is provided to athletes? How is scholarship money structured, and is there potential for the award to increase over four years?

What non-financial benefits do college athletes receive?

Athletes at many programs receive gear, access to training staff, priority course registration, priority housing assignments, dedicated academic advisors, and access to tutoring and study halls. Priority registration in particular can give athletes a significant advantage in course selection each semester.

Should my child focus more on athletics or academics for college scholarships?

Academics offer a more predictable and universally applicable path to scholarship money. Athletic recruiting is unpredictable — a coach’s needs change each year, and most sports carry limited aid. Strong grades and test scores, by contrast, are valued at every institution and in every sport. The best strategy for a student-athlete is to build the strongest possible academic record, use the sport to open doors, and let the academics provide the financial floor.

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Educational Consultant
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I had a great visit here at Samford University, really beautiful, beautiful campus.  One of the things I learned about today was, it was a great lesson actually in the idea of discount rates, Samford University is actually cheaper, the sticker price of tuition is cheaper than a lot of other private universities and they use that as a huge selling point about why you ought to consider coming to Samford.  The interesting thing is that they really don’t discount tuition too much.  They do provide financial aid for some students, but fully one-third of the students who come here pay the full price of tuition.
Now at other universities, even the other ones I’ve been visiting in the south, the other private universities, they actually have a much higher tuition rate but they discount the tuition for a much larger percentage of the students.
So, when I talk to my clients, and I always talk about the fact that most students will not pay the sticker price when they are accepted to a private university, but parents will also be looking at that sticker price and doing comparison shopping, say between Samford and let’s say, Vanderbilt or even Birmingham Southern, and they say, “Whoa, the sticker price at those other places is so much more than it is at a place like Samford”.  Well, if you’re paying full price for tuition or if you’re planning to pay full price, then yes, Samford is a deal.  But if you are looking for financial aid, you may get less financial aid at a place like Samford than you would at a place that has a higher sticker price.
So that’s a really confusing reality of the way universities, which are businesses, price their product or their service.  So it was a fascinating discovery here.  I enjoyed my time very much and I think that they provide a really great educational product here but I thought it was really interesting to learn about their pricing structure.

The post Understanding the Pricing Model of Universities first appeared on Great College Advice.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant 
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Here’s the transcript if you’d like to read:

I’m here on the Campus of the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. And I could say that the College of Wooster is another one of those Mid-Western surprises. I’ve had on this trip where you walk into the campus and are really shocked by how really wonderful it is. I can’t say I was completely shocked because I knew from reputation that this is a really solid academic school. It’s kind of under the radar screen for a lot of people but a fantastic little liberal arts college in Ohio.

The thing I wanted to mention is the way I visit colleges. I tend not to go on canned admission tours. I tend to just show up kind of unannounced without a lot of fanfare or giving them prior warning of my visit. Then I walked into the Admissions Office today at 4:15, okay it closes at 5.

Immediately they said, let’s get you in touch with the person, what are the admissions reps and he sat down with me. He talked with me for about 40 minutes. He gave me kind of a personal tour of the campus as much as he could before he had to run off to pick up his wife. But really took a personalized – he gave me personal attention. And that’s really indicative of what the College of Wooster is all about spending the time and the energy and giving personal attention to each and every student.

Loren Pope put the College of Wooster in his book 40 Colleges that Changed Lives and, you know. It’s not surprising just my little experience here on an August day when the campus is pretty dead to walk into the Admissions Office and get a lot of personalized attention. We just met with the professor he was walking out of his office, stood there and talked with us for a few minutes, really impressive place.

Yes, the landscaping and the architecture yes that’s kind of a surprise to me. Because it really does kind of help to get a feel of the physical plant of a college. But really by reputation College of Wooster is one of those places that they take – maybe their students are diamonds in the rough not necessarily the tippy top academically. They will take students who have academic potential and they will mold them into scholars. That is really the hallmark of education here at Wooster, excellent education, someplace that is definitely off the radar screen for a lot of students but it shouldn’t be. This is a high value education and it deserves more attention.

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Transcript:

I’m here on the campus of Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida and behind me, you can see the Performing Arts Center. This is where one of the three presidential debates in 2012 between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was held. But it’s really the Performing Arts Center for a music conservatory here at Lynn. It’s a smaller program but it is highly renowned. It’s primarily international students, kids come from all over the world to study music here. And, bonus, it’s free.

So if you get in, you don’t pay tuition. And if you still need more money because you have a financial need. Then scholarships might be available to help pay for the cost of room and board. So if you’re looking for a music conservatory. There are not many better deals in the country than the Lynn University Conservatory.

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TRANSCRIPT:
So here today I’m on the campus of Rollins College, it’s in Winter Park, Florida, not too far from Orlando, big city. And it’s a beautiful campus, kind of Mediterranean style, and really nice buildings, architecturally harmonious, we might say. And the location is great because not only is it warm, although it’s January right now, it’s a little nippy, sunny and beautiful but a little nippy, and it’s got the best of both worlds: it’s a smallish town, Winter Park is an older town in Florida that’s been around for a long time, but then you’ve got Orlando with Disney and Universal and all the attractions of a big city. So it’s kind of a nice combination being in a more suburban or residential area of a very large city.

So a great place to come if you’re looking for the place where you can wear your flip flops every day and enjoy the Florida sunshine. The other thing that’s really beautiful about this campus is that they are on this lake, Lake Virginia, so you’ve got a big waterfront down here that is absolutely gorgeous. So there’s a reason why Princeton Review recently called this the number 1 most beautiful college campus in America.

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TRANSCRIPT:

One of the other things that I found were interesting about Bates is the history matters. History matters with a lot of these colleges and Bates is very different from most of the other New England colleges in that it was set up by Free Will Baptists. And the Free Will Baptists were committed to ensuring that Bates was a campus that would be welcoming, not only to the local community and to America’s elite.

But also to women, so it was the first college in New England to accept women and also other minorities, including blacks. This was set up before the end of the Civil War, and from the very beginning they accepted freed slaves into the campus community.

So why does that matter? Well, it’s part of the ethos. It’s part of the way that Bates thinks about itself and presents itself and projects itself into the world, that this is a progressive learning community. It’s an intentional community that has always been diverse. That has always been accepting of people of every stripe, including every religious background, every socioeconomic class, every ethnic background.

So that is just one of the core principles at this college that does set apart a little bit. Everybody’s going to talk about how they’re into being welcoming and tolerant and accepting. And of course that’s part of the American reality today. But Bates has walked the walk from the beginning of its history whereas some of the Ivy League schools, well, all of the Ivy League schools. And many other elite small colleges in New England just didn’t begin that way. So that’s an important part of Bates’ history to keep in mind.

Mark Montgomery
Expert Educational Consultant

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Johnson and Wales is not right for every student. It takes a student with a certain dedication and passion toward a specific career goal to make this campus be the “right fit” for them. It was easy to quickly recognize that this was not the place to recommend to your average 17 year old student who is undecided about their career path. But, that it was a great place for some highly motivated and well-directed students. So, I asked Wes and Brennan about what kind of student they thought was right for Johnson and Wales.

Video Summary:

Wes, who works in admissions, highlights the fact that students who want to go to Johnson and Wales University should be extremely driven. Students with clear goals of where they want to go professionally in areas such as business or culinary arts can really thrive here. Students who are excited about the opportunity to spend significant time making professional connections, do internships, and get the “real world experience” may find  Johnson and Wales to be a good match.

Brennan, who works in student life, adds in that one thing that sets Johnson and Wales apart from some other schools, geared toward specific trades and a professional track, is that they do offer a true college experience for those students who are looking for it. They actually have a distinct college campus, an opportunity to live in dorms, campus events, student government and clubs and activities. It is a nice way to create some balance for students who want the “trade school” experience with some real college campus flavor thrown in.

While not captured on video, one of the highlights of my visit was an amazing tour guide who talked about her experience with the faculty. She said Johnson and Wales University is really great for the student who wants their faculty to be coming directly from the industry they want to work in. She talked about her professors who would literally go through the textbooks and say “here is what you really need to know”. And then connect her and her peers with the colleagues they knew who were still in the industry for internship or work experience.

So, again, students starting to do college visits remember to ask yourself the tough questions such as: how driven am I? How clear are my career goals or do I still need some time to explore? How passionate am I about a particular career at this point in my life? These kinds of questions may help you filter through your college list.
 

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Video Recap:

After a visit to the University of Northern Colorado, I had a chance to connect with one of my graduate school friends who now works in residence life. She shared a few tips about filling out the housing application.

1) Be honest on the housing application. Students, please please please – fill it out yourself! Whether you are messy or clean, a late riser or an early-to-bed kind of person, or a smoker/nonsmoker. You want to let the housing office know so they can match you with a roommate who will complement your style.

2) Look for living and learning communities. Living and learning communities are great ways to connect with students who share a common interest. There are often extra perks such as taking classes right in your residence hall, access to special field trips, guest lectures, proximity to your classes, etc.

3) You are going to be sharing space. Be ready to learn how to compromise! Sharing your room can be a challenging experience. If it is your first time doing so. Set up a contract with your roommate and certain guidelines you want to follow to be respectful of one another.

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