As long as the Ivies maintain that they do not give athletic scholarships, I
don't think we'll every know "definitively."  Unless and until they openly
designate aid as an "athetic scholarship", I suspect that the suspicion will
always be there that they do.  And as long as  people like the Colgate coach
make comments like they do, the suspicions will have a certain amount of
credibility.
 
I think that if a student has some unique credential that makes them a very
desirable student for a school, that they will get some sort of preference
both from and admissions standpoint and from a financial aid standpoint.
Admissions officers are becoming more and more honest on the admissions
aspect of this, and I think it's naive to think that it doesn't affect the
financial aid aspect as well.  I think that a big difference is that schools
that give athletic scholarships don't need to consider need at all, whereas
the Ivies do.
 
When I talked to a financial aid counselor at one of the schools that my
daughter was accepted at, I bluntly asked her "If my daughter had better SAT
scores, or were a great athlete, or had some unique skill, would her
financial aid offer been better?"  She answered that our income was above a
"ceiling" so those factors didn't come into play.  The implication, of
course, is that if our income had been below that ceiling, that her
financial aid would have taken her credentials into account.  This is
entirely consistent with what I hear from most college advisors, especially
those who have worked in admissions departements at selective universities.
If, for whatever reason, you are highly desirable to a college (and athetic
skill is possibly the most visible desirability factor), you'll be treated
better by the school.  One admissions director and financial aid director
said "We WILL have an orchestra and a football team and . . ."
 
Clay
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard S. Tuthill [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 1999 11:58 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Colgate Financial Aid
>
>         The recent quote from Coach Vaughn of Colgate confirms that
> Colgate awards
> preferential need-based aid to athletes. In fact, what he said is
> basically
> the definition of preference. This is exactly what some schools such as
> Union, for instance (until this year), maintained they would not do. Does
> anyone know, definitively, whether or not the Ivies do or do not award
> preferential need based aid to athletes? We have had this discussion
> before
> but it would be interesting to know if there is any new information
> available.
>
>         Btw, Union now gives preferential need-based aid in the form of
> loans
> which do not carry an absolute requirement to be paid back. But only
> foreign nationals can get them. (You will be forgiven for shaking your
> head
> in wonderment.)
>
>         -- Dick Tuthill
>
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