Most affordable quality college school for D2 athletes

[Eagle74]

In a day when more and more college students are getting buried by student loans, I hear that there are some excellent options for Division 2 athletes who choose to commute or live on campus.

What are the best options (cost) in your region?

[Eagle74]

Fayetteville State University: $15,000 / $20,000 annually including tuition, room & board, and fees (in state). A lot of scholarship and grant options available, in many cases bringing the cost down to $6,000 with aid, and lower before any athletic and merit scholarships / discounts are applied.

[OldBison]

Most of the public universities in the GAC are affordable ($6,000 annually, tuition, room and board). Among the most notable in Arkansas are Arkansas Tech, Henderson State and UA - Monticello. For the D2 football athlete Harding fully funds 36 scholarship equivalents plus funds up to 80% of some athlete’s costs through grants and academic supplements (endowments).

[twolfbenchwarmer]

In Colorado, like I'm sure most places, the return on your degree is heavily influenced by the degree you're getting. CO Mines has one of the best engineering programs in the country and have a starting salary in the 90k range for most of their majors. I'll go out on a limb and say most wouldn't get in or be successful if they got in.
The other RMAC state schools CSUP, Adams, Mesa, Western, Ft Lewis are all very comparable cost wise $9500-$11000/year for in state students. Mines is around $22,000/ year but would still give you the best value in the long run.

FAFSA compiles graduate income data for every college in the country, and makes it pretty easy to sort by state.
https://studentaid.gov/data-center/school/earnings

[Mule Dad]

Even though D2 football players aren't receiving "full ride" athletic scholarships, the combination of a partial football scholarship, academic scholarships, grants, etc. more than pays for their entire schooling including tuition, books, housing, meals, etc. allowing them to graduate with zero debt.

[Bballfan]

Even though D2 football players aren't receiving "full ride" athletic scholarships, the combination of a partial football scholarship, academic scholarships, grants, etc. more than pays for their entire schooling including tuition, books, housing, meals, etc. allowing them to graduate with zero debt.

Correct. And for most any state school, in-state students, even beyond athletes, are going to get pretty good deals.

[Redwing]

Even though D2 football players aren't receiving "full ride" athletic scholarships, the combination of a partial football scholarship, academic scholarships, grants, etc. more than pays for their entire schooling including tuition, books, housing, meals, etc. allowing them to graduate with zero debt.

I'm pretty sure that's not an absolute. Maybe it varies by state as well as Alum, but no. It's more probable for the top few players on the team, but in most cases, most of the freshmen aren't getting a net zero cash flow and are negative. Many not be breaking even until maybe their junior year.... if they're a key player.

[SW_Mustang]

UNC-Pembroke is $3,600 / $7,600 - (according to USNWR), which is really remarkable in the modern age. Though UNCP is also apart of the "NC Promise" program which knocks tuition down even lower.

That was pretty shocking - honestly. SMSU sits at $11,000/year and MSU sits at $9,500/year, and I thought those were quasi-"affordable" rates (all things considered).

Thing is - a lot of athletes I went to college with came in with some AP/PSEO-type credits. That's really where the savings are. If I had a "do-over" - I'd get as much Gen Ed stuff out of the way as possible through PSEO/AP/CLEP, since that stuff is pretty universal.

[FoothillBison]

I think East Central and Southwestern Oklahoma State are about as cheap as they come in regards to tuition and cost of living.

[boatcapt]

It really depends on where you live (in-state tuition is almost always going to trump out of state or private school), what sport you are talking about (West Liberty for example has a kick a$$ basketball team...but football, not so much) and what you define as quality in athletics (is it playing in the NCAA tourney every year or is it a consistent 500+ program?).

I think it is also important to dig deep on the "sticker price" universities put out there. There are tremendous variability on what is included in the price they show. College pretty much across the board have figured out how to weigh down college costs with any number of fees. Average fee cost at DII's is estimated to be between $1800 and $2700 and that doesn't include program specific fees that a student might incur by enrolling in a particular major.

Another point to consider, some schools require freshmen to reside in the dorms and get an on-campus meal plan. While that isn't tuition, it is a cost to the you pay to the school that can add up QUICKLY!

[boatcapt]

In Colorado, like I'm sure most places, the return on your degree is heavily influenced by the degree you're getting. CO Mines has one of the best engineering programs in the country and have a starting salary in the 90k range for most of their majors. I'll go out on a limb and say most wouldn't get in or be successful if they got in.
The other RMAC state schools CSUP, Adams, Mesa, Western, Ft Lewis are all very comparable cost wise $9500-$11000/year for in state students. Mines is around $22,000/ year but would still give you the best value in the long run.

FAFSA compiles graduate income data for every college in the country, and makes it pretty easy to sort by state.
https://studentaid.gov/data-center/school/earnings

They do have a really, really good engineering program, no doubt. But worth noting that the average college student changes their major three times before they graduate! Imagine being a parent and watching your child rack-up $44K in tuition (which YOU are probably the co-signer on) at Mines only to have them say - "I'm not feeling engineering anymore. I'm changing my major to "herbal studies" (or some other non-sense degree)?

Probably the best deal for a graduating HS athlete is to go directly to a JUCO. Tuition is going to probably be insanely lower and if you are truely good in your sport, there is plenty of opportunity to move up to a D1 or DII AND earn a scholly of some sort.

[twolfbenchwarmer]

It really depends on where you live (in-state tuition is almost always going to trump out of state or private school), what sport you are talking about (West Liberty for example has a kick a$$ basketball team...but football, not so much) and what you define as quality in athletics (is it playing in the NCAA tourney every year or is it a consistent 500+ program?).

Because in state isn't always an option it's also a good idea to look for schools that are part of programs like WUE (western undergraduate exchange) or the New England states have RSP, the regional student program, that gives a much cheaper rate for nearby states than the full out of state tuition cost. Not every school participates but most state schools do, not sure if there's other partnerships between states in other parts of the country.

[SW_Mustang]

Because in state isn't always an option it's also a good idea to look for schools that are part of programs like WUE (western undergraduate exchange) or the New England states have RSP, the regional student program, that gives a much cheaper rate for nearby states than the full out of state tuition cost. Not every school participates but most state schools do, not sure if there's other partnerships between states in other parts of the country.

Reciprocity agreements too - but it's important to understand what agreements are in place with who and how the function - I almost got burned by that assuming .
Minnesota offered in-state rates to South Dakota residents.

[Predatory Primates]

Because in state isn't always an option it's also a good idea to look for schools that are part of programs like WUE (western undergraduate exchange) or the New England states have RSP, the regional student program, that gives a much cheaper rate for nearby states than the full out of state tuition cost. Not every school participates but most state schools do, not sure if there's other partnerships between states in other parts of the country.

Pitt offers something like this: (copied from their website)
In-state tuition

We extend in-state tuition to 32 states! Look for yours: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.



Their costs are 20 to 25k all in.