But with your kid being so young, there is no guarantee those same coaches will be in place once your kid gets deeper into the process or starts playing. It would be a mistake to rule schools in/out based on a projected spot and a projected major so early in the process.
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There is a fairly small number of top schools give significant need-based awards. Getting the price for these schools down to or below the cost of in-state tuition at State U is not uncommon. Most of the schools that give the great need-based aid don’t give out merit money. Ivy League and the top LACs are good examples of this. There are not many schools that have Ivy League levels of need-based money and also offer athletic scholarships. Stanford and Duke come to mind. Any others? I suspect coaches of equivalency sports at these schools don’t use much of their scholarship money for student athletes who are getting lots of need-based money, but thats just speculation on my part.
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When it comes to D1 men’s soccer, if you’re not an international player, you likely aren’t getting much, if any athletic money.
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Because of our financial situation, I think if my kid gets any financial benefit from soccer, it will likely be because it gets him into a school with better need based aid then he’d get into on his own.
We aren’t doing this because of potential financial benefit. Or counting on a financial benefit.
We’re doing it because he loves to play.
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This comment from eyemgh seems not to be getting enough emphasis: “This is mostly dependent on the individual”
You might consider having your player take a very challenging academic schedule in 9th grade, and see if they are able to manage that along with club and school varsity soccer. Some kids can, for others it is a lot harder.
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Some of the schools on the lists provide above are D2 schools. Don’t rule those out as there is athletic money, and often merit money too.
Colo school of Mines is a good example. There is athletic money, merit money, financial need money. And he would be surrounded by other engineers. A few years ago I looked at the roster and it was 99% engineers (one uncommitted freshman). ALL players had been on club teams in hs and usually their hs teams too.
My daughter went to Florida Tech and played lax. She got athletic money, state grants, school merit, some need based aid. Her team was not 100% STEM majors, but the majority were and that set the tone. School was first priority (remember, athletes get to register for classes first). Even the school helps out here like holding all math tests on Thursday nights, so coaches don’t hold practices then, don’t schedule games then. Sometimes quizzed were held on Fridays and they let athletes take the quiz early, with the first section, and then the buses would leave for a weekend game out of town. It really made a difference for my daughter to have the academic and athletic departments working together.
There are a lot of moving parts but they somehow all come together. There are lots of engineering students who play sports. Colorado School of MInes had a great football team the last 2 years (in the playoffs). Because of Covid some of the players were 6th year players. They had BAs, masters, advanced certificates…just kept piling them up. One player was married, had a baby, had a job that was being held for him and yet he kept playing because he wanted to win that championship (didn’t happen). If someone wants to major in engineering and play a sport it can be done. IMO it helps to have other teammates who are also in engineering.
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