The cost of attending college can add up very quickly, there are four main things which you need to pay for:
1. Tuition Fees - For the 2023-24 academic year, Times Higher Education found that public colleges (those who are funded by the state they are in) charged on average $10,200 per year (before scholarships and financial aid) for students coming from in the state and $26,290 for students coming from out of their state. Private colleges (those who are not funded by the state) averaged $35,800 per year.
2. Accommodation - at private colleges most students live on campus in dorms, while at public colleges much less students live on campus. For example at California Berkeley, a public colllege, 24% of students live on campus whereas at Stanford, a private college, 94% of students live on campus. Costs of accommodation for students living off campus varies greatly on the location of the college, but Times Higher Education found that on-campus costs (including utilities, housing-related costs, and meal plans) averaged between $5,300 and $8,100 in 23-24.
3. Personal expenses - most students will spend around $1-3,000 per year on: leisure, clothing, toiletries, room decor, and more.
4. Travel - International students should consider the cost of travel to their college, with most students choosing to go home over the Christmas break and summer holidays.
While the overall costs of colleges listed earlier seem very high, many people who attend college end up paying less through scholarships and financial aid. Tennis and academic scholarships can be stacked on top of each other.
Recently there was some big news regarding D1 tennis scholarships. The NCAA have decided that from the 2025-26 season rosters will be limited to 10 players (the average D1 roster size in the 2023-24 season was 10.1) and they will have no scholarship limits. This means that schools can choose to give full-ride scholarships to all 10 players on a roster if their budget is large enough. Previously men's teams were limited to 4.5 scholarships and women's teams to 8.
Both D2 and D3 teams will have no roster size limits. However D2 will still only be allowed to offer 4.5 scholarships per men's team, and 6 per women's team. These scholarships can be allocated however the coach wants to, so for example a men's coach may choose to offer 9 players on the team a 50% scholarship. D3 are still not allowed to offer tennis scholarship.
A full-ride scholarship can cover tuition and accommodation fees, sometimes even personal living expenses. Partial scholarships will cover a percentage of these fees. Scholarships are allocated on a yearly basis, but considering that you're tennis level is likely to rise year on year it is very rare to see your scholarship amount decrease.
The amount of scholarship offered at each D1 and D2 college mostly depends on the coach's budget so it's important to discuss this with them before signing with a college. If you are joining a college and will be playing in the singles roster it is quite likely that you will receive some form of tennis scholarship, particularly in D1 with the new scholarship rules. The best way to see whether you are likely to play on the team's roster is by searching for the college team on the UTR website. Under each college's page on the UTR website you will see a graphic showing the average UTR of each position in their - and the other colleges in the conference's - singles lineup.
It is also worth noting that the Ivy League colleges (who are in D1) do not give athletic scholarships, only need-based financial aid. Coaches can help their prospective athletes obtain financial aid. In many cases, Ivy League schools are able to meet the majority of the cost of tuition, families with an annual income less than $65,000 can expect to receive 100% aid and families with a household income between $65-180,000 could be expected to contribute somewhere between 10 to 18 percent.*
*Figures taken from NCSA college recruiting.
Many private colleges offer academic scholarship for those with a strong application. To see how likely you are to get an academic scholarship you can compare your test scores to the percentiles of previous applicants to the college. For example, if a college gives around 10% of applicants academic scholarship and your SAT score is in the 5th percentile of applicants you are quite likely. However because of the holistic nature of the admissions process it is hard to be certain as other parts of your application like your essay and references are also considered.
Some public colleges and highly selective private colleges don't offer academic scholarship, all of the ivy league colleges do not offer academic scholarship.
This is based off an applicants household income. Everyone who applies to college has to fill out the FAFSA form, which tells colleges if a student will need financial aid in order to afford college. Let's use an example so you can see how this works.
A student may fill out the FAFSA form and it will be clear that for their financial situation they are only able to pay $15,000 per year. When applying to a college with tuition fees higher than $15,000, they may choose to offer the student financial aid and decrease their fees. If a college claims to meet 100% of demonstrated need, the student will only ever have to pay $15,000 per year.
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Public colleges are funded by the state which they are in and typically have larger student populations and a wider range of majors offered. However because public colleges are funded by taxpayers in the state, they tend to give less academic scholarship and financial aid to out-of-state students. Tennis scholarship availabilities at public colleges tend to be the same as at private colleges since players on the tennis teams are able to generate revenue for the college. There is roughly a similar number of public and private colleges in the US.
At private colleges most students live on campus in dorms, while at public colleges much less students live on campus. For example at California Berkeley, a public colllege, 24% of students live on campus whereas at Stanford, a private college, 94% of students live on campus.
The bigger a team's budget, the more likely you are to get a scholarship. In general, the highest ranked D1 teams, especially those with a big football team have the biggest budgets.
The Ivy League is a D1 conference, containing eight private colleges in the Northeast of America. They are most well known for being some of the best academic institutions in the country, but it is important to remember that they are not the only top academic colleges.
Ivy League schools don't offer scholarship because they prioritise need-based financial aid, aiming to create a diverse and academically driven student body.
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Last updated: 2024