In a message dated 7/11/2003 6:43:37 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> many Ivy League athletes get need-based financial aid. The point is so
> does every other student that needs it at those schools

I strongly suspect that athletes get preferential treatment for "need-based"
financial aid, just as they get preferential treatment in admissions.  You
can't be a dummy and get into Harvard or Cornell, but if you're a member of a
group that Harvard or Cornell wants to recruit, your grades don't have to be
quite as high as if your just an ordinary Joe competing with the rest of the
applicant pool.  That applies to recruited athletes in about the same way that it
applies to approved minorities (e.g., blacks and Hispanics) and legacies.  The
same holds true for Division III "Little Ivy League" schools like Amherst,
Williams, and Bowdoin, although there has been some discussion whether those
schools will continue to reserve as many slots for athletes (i.e., maintain as
much of a differential) as they have in the past.