--- You wrote: The point here is that any college and university, regardless of what their policy is, will offer financial aid to a student-athlete to induce him/her to enroll there. This is true in the Ivy League, the Patriot League, and in D-3. As Michael Corleone said to the senator from Nevada in Godfather II, "We're all part of the same hypocricy. Just don't think it applies to my family." --- end of quote --- I hope you appreciate the difference between need based awards that are offered to all students, not just athletes, and athletic scholarships which are based solely on one's athletic ability. Because your whole story makes it sound like you treat them as one and the same. Yeah many Ivy League athletes get need-based financial aid. The point is so does every other student that needs it at those schools. And there is no guarantee that an athlete will get any aid at all if they come from a well-off family. Meanwhile if they goto UNH or Michigan, they may get a full-ride no matter what their financial situation. And on top of it, they have to have good enough grades/test scores to get admitted.