That makes more sense. If your kid is a good enough player in 9th grade to get a monetary discount, I can understand a parent wanting or needing that. Many of these same colleges have a lot of merit money for good students and some of the selective colleges also have very large endowments. So if affordability is a driving factor, there is that for kids who are admitted without lacrosse.

I have a son who is a junior with a 4.7 GPA and scored 99% on the PSAT meaning he'll be a national merit semifinalist and he'll have a few merit based opportunities...where those opportunities will be I have no idea. He was recruited, but by schools he doesn't go in for geographically and schools we would not want for him academically. So he will be one of the zillion kids applying to 3-4 Ivies and some other selective schools. Maybe he'll get into his #1, maybe he won't. Lacrosse can greatly boost that #1 choice to happen with the coach helping. That written, I am confident he'll get into a very good college and likely will have a choice of good colleges.

I'd vote that if a kid is a very good student, lacrosse is discounting both the dollars and the opportunities. There are some lacrosse parents who will get $100,000 off a four year college which would cost over $200,000 and that sounds great. I know of a few parents who are excited about $5,000-$10,000 a year scholarships making college more affordable, and I think those parents have a problem doing math. If they can't afford college, there will be aid or merit money insofar as their kid is a reasonably decent student. I have an older son and it appears to me that nearly all private schools that cost $60K or more cost that for a reason. The uber rich will just pay, and everyone else including the sort of wealthy get a discount. It is the same thrill some feel when they get $2,000 off MSRP on a car from a dealer. For private colleges very few people are paying sticker...it makes people feel good to get a discount and helps the school raise yield to say $45K instead of $65K. It isn't like they aren't collecting a lot anyways, especially universities supported by states.