With all the NLIs being signed now, I have a question. Are the students signing NLIs getting full scholarships?
Let's do some arithmetic and answer the question exclusively in the context of men's and women's Division I and Division II programs. Scholarship count data for lacrosse programs follows :
NCAA D1 Sport ...... Men's Women's
Lacrosse ........... 12.6 / 12.0
NCAA D2 Sport ...... Men's Women's
Lacrosse ........... 10.8 / 9.9Now, with the average roster holding 24-26 players, very clearly a straight division shows you that on average, each player would receive at most 0.5 of a scholarship.
If you do sign a NLI and are not receiving a full scholarship do you know how much academic or other financial aid you will be getting at the time of signing?
A player signing an NLI or National Letter of Intent is effectively signing the contract that disclosed all of the financial terms for the upcoming academic year. Generally, all financial data will be included in such an arrangement, but this is not required by the NCAA. As a result, the final financial disclosure process might vary slightly by university.
For example, if a private school is $40K and a student gets a $10K athletic scholarship, that's nice, but there is still a huge gap to fill.
This is a 0.25 ... or one-quarter ... scholarship and would be a fairly standard award for a entering student-athlete. Think of it this way : If there are 12.0 scholarships (maximum, women's Division I), on average that would mean 3.0 scholarships per class year. Now, upper classmen will typically get slightly more money over time so suppose there are 2.0 scholarships available for entering freshmen. If eight recruits are brought into the campus all with equal footing, that will result in 0.25 scholarships per player.
I am thinking that if this happened to our own family, my child would not be able to commit to a school without knowing the final cost.
BOTC Industries strongly advises you to engage the college coach once a roster spot has been allocated to your child to explain your financial situation and ask that the coach introduce you to the college's financial aid department for an early assessment of your case. Be prepared to have all of the previous tax year's information, savings/assets data, and your child's academic transcript at the ready for that meeting. All of these documents will be required.
