school was made so she could have time to “modify the offer.”
The athletic director called an hour later and explained to the
father that if his daughter would send a short essay on why
she wanted to attend and would discuss the essay with him,
he might be able to award her an “Interview Scholarship” of
$500. She received a great education at that school and played
basketball there for four years.
NCAA Division III coaches or recruiters are obliged to tell
you that they can’t/don’t (rule 15.4) offer scholarships for
athletic ability (i.e., athletic scholarships). Still, substantial
financial aid will very often be awarded to a prospective stu-
dent athlete. A potential financial aid award for a prospective
student athlete by an NCAA Division III school will never,
never, never be discussed with you in terms of athletic schol-
arships or athletic ability. Many of these institutions have
learned how to use the scholarship “name game.” You must
play along.
Financial aid will likely be discussed in terms of merit awards,
leadership awards, diversity awards, academic and honors
awards, loans, employment, “awards of circumstance,” and
institutional awards. Institutional awards have many names,
some of the more common names are: presidential award,
founders grant, trustees award, leadership scholarship, etc.
Most colleges offer an institutional grant. Some offer more
than one, each grant being given a different name. This insti-
tutional grant, no matter what inventive name the college
chooses to give it, is a discount on the “sticker price” of that
college. The grant often has the college’s name as part of the
grant title, but some colleges use very creative names.
The meaning is clear. Many NCAA Division III institutions
award financial aid to prospects because of athletic ability; but
132 The Sports Scholarships Insider’s Guide