Looking for advice. Son is being recruited by some lower level D1s, D2s, 3 and NAIA. We knew there wouldn’t be money in track, but thought it would help him with admissions for reach schools. It has, but with merit scholarships we are still looking at 60k plus a year, and we can’t fathom that it’s worth it for the D1s and D3s he likes. The NAIAs that have reached out to him are Christian schools which he doesn’t want. Any NAIAs that aren’t Christian , that have great running programs but also strong school spirit/fun communities that might offer athletic scholarships?
Our financial situation changed with my husband getting laid off, but our assets are still too strong for FA. We saved 100k in 529, and are hoping he wouldn’t need to take more than 40k in loans. I realize the privilege of our assets, but we aren’t willing to liquidate them to pay for college.
There are 188 NAIA schools with outdoor men’s track. You can further refine the list by major and such here: NAIA Member Schools - NAIA
Then, you would have to look up their COA to see if you can get within your budget of $60K.
Many NAIA schools are Christian schools and as a group tend to have relatively low enrollments (1,400 on average.) Additionally many NAIA schools aren’t really known for their rigorous academics (of course one can still receive a solid education anywhere.) When evaluating NAIA schools I would also do a deep dive into their financial situation, many are in precarious spots from a cash flow and/or endowment perspective.
Would Jesuit schools be ok (yes I know still Christian)? If so, maybe Loyola New Orleans?
Your S will only be able to take out $27K in the Fed direct student loans over 4 years of undergrad. Any loan amounts beyond that will be on the parents, either directly or as a co-signer.
I would look to see if a school requires students and staff/faculty to sign a faith statement and if they have mandatory chapel. If they do not, they are probably more “Christian in name” but should have plenty of students and faculty/staff of diverse views and non-Christian students won’t feel like they stick out much. In my experience, Catholic colleges will tout their heritage but do not have required religious services or require signing a faith statement, so I’d take a closer look at those over, for example, schools affiliated with evangelical denominations.
Div II lets you stack aid which can help a lot. The D-II schools are better known and likely more financially stable. Lot of options all over the country
I know more of the northeast (Assumption, Southern Conn, Slippery Rock, Pittsburg State, etc) but they are all over ( Wayne State, Cal Poly Pomona, West Tx A&M, Embry Riddle, Colorado School of Mines)
NAIA Colleges that aren’t religious. Since you didn’t post where you live, I’ve indicated if they are WUE (Western University Exchange) schools.
Eastern Oregon - Comes close to budget before athletic or merit scholarships. They recruited my high stats kid hard. I’m not sure if it was athletics or academics that got him on the radar. This wasn’t a college I knew much about, but turns out I have a couple of friends that went there, loved it and did very well (MD and social worker). One has family that teaches there and thinks very highly of it. Didn’t pursue it due to distance and it’s a bit isolated. WUE school.
Loyola, New Orleans- Great location. Campus borders Tulane. Would need to get tuition down through merit and athletic scholarships, but I think they are generous. Kids seem to love it here. Jesuit, but not “religious”.
Evergreen State- Very small, very niche school. Good for a left leaning, crunchy kid that wants a small community and to make their own academic path. In budget if you are WUE. Would need athlete/academic money to get into budget otherwise. Not sure how generous they are.
University of Montana Western - Made our list because it is the only public that offers One Course at A Time. One course at a time is a great model for athletes. Off the list because of very small percentage of OOS students that attend. This one should come within budget even without merit or athletic money. WUE school if you are from a WUE state.
You’re just off of low D-1/2/3 times while you are squarely in NAIA for all of your events. That makes sense with what you said about recruiting.
I asked my nephew who is a current D3 NESCAC runner (previously D1) who went through the same process recently and he thought your 800/1600 were good D2 times and your best chances for $.
Do you know someone who’s been through this process recently? You’ll want some insight from someone you know. Maybe a local runner you’ve run with or against who graduated last year?
There is also new element this year (I believe) that could help with team being able to offer more partial scholarships. I don’t recall all the details but it sound like more $$ possibly on the table.
I don’t know anything about NAIA schools so can’t help there.
With those times I’d really think about applying widely to schools where academics, location, finances, etc. are a good fit.
If performances improve this year he can keep communicating with coaches and maybe something will work out in the winter.
I’m not trying to discourage high hopes, just cautioning against the recruiting tunnel vision I sometimes see.
If he’d prefer a large D1 school, he could look at running clubs as an option if running for the team doesn’t work out.
I’m sure there are D3 programs that’d love to have him, but I don’t know that the finances will work that well vs. applying widely and seeing what merit options look like.
(I’m assuming he’s reached out widely to coaches already; if not I’d cast a wider net now).
Yes, he has been reaching out to so many coaches. And again, he has had positive prereads from multiple schools, 2 official visits so far to slower D1 programs, D3s asking him to come for official visits, and new coaches continuing to reach out every day. But, he was targeting the D1s and D3s and the finances just aren’t working out, and at this point we doubt they will. So I completely agree we need to cast a wider net. We are in the northeast, and we’re hoping to stay east coast, but I think he is willing to look further now if it could help financially. It’s been hard to let go of the idea of the schools he wants, and to accept he might need to go with a school that has less of the features he wants, but would be more financially pragmatic.
What are the features he would want in a school? What majors might he be interested in? What are some schools he would be interested in attending if the finances did work? If you give us some ideas of schools he likes already (and where he sits as a student stats wise) we might be able to come up with matches that would be more likely to reach budget.
I’d say Lafayette is his favorite, likes Providence , Clemson, UConn a lot as well. He thinks he’d like to major in business (maybe economics) and/or psychology. He likes schools with school spirit, sports rivalries, lots of clubs/activities, people hanging out on the quad.
We are going through the track recruiting process as well and one school we loved and that seems somewhat affordable is Centre College (D3). The coaches there are fabulous, the school LOVES their athletes, and the facilities are brand spanking new. Excellent academics as well.
Loyola New Orleans, while a wonderful school, does not have a track facility (personally that would be a deal breaker for me but my kid is a sprinter) and they have a roster of 20 men which is quite small.
Are there in-state options that he likes? That can often establish a good baseline, especially if they have a TFXC program.
And yes, I think if he expands the search geographically he’d have more options.
It’s not that folks won’t like his times, just that there might not be the money he needs to make it work. I’ve often seen families in that performance range pay quite a bit more to go out of state or D3 to continue running.
Sorry to hear that. It does make for a more challenging situation, but it’s great that he’s understanding about things.
If his academic stats are pretty good he might find more merit money than athletic money out there.
Would he consider expanding the search out west?
There are schools in the mountain west that are actually pretty reasonable where he could likely run. Colorado Mesa is one example and I believe has some auto merit options. Utah State can be very cheap out of state—look at their auto merit chart ( a bit of a step up in terms of running level so he’d want to confirm the coach would let him walk on).
And further west he could likely run at various WCC schools-Santa Clara, Gonzaga, etc-if admission and merit aid worked out. Not to mention the many D3s out west—Willamette, Oxy, etc.—that use merit to attract students, any of which he could run at.
Those are just examples. He could probably come up with more. And of course club options at many schools could work. Sometimes looking at the non-recruiting path (that would still eventually allow joining a team or club) can take short term pressure off, or just help with perspective.
Thanks for all the great tips and encouragement! I’ll look into things. None of us would love him going out west, but it’s worth considering at this point. His grades, extra curriculars, and sports are strong. We’ll apply test optional though since he isn’t a great test taker and his numbers are average on those.