When being recruited to play a sport, whether it is Division 1 or 2, NAIA, or JuCo, you will (hopefully!) be getting an athletic scholarship. This week, we talked about WHEN to ask for a higher scholarship. You've thought it over and decided it's a good time to ask for a higher scholarship, how do you do it?
HOW to Negotiate for a Higher Scholarship
- Know what you have going for you
It would be difficult to negotiate for a higher scholarship amount if you do not know what you have going for you. Know your stats, what you have given and will give to the team to help it improve overall, and what you're worth to the coach. If the coach agrees, chances are they'll try to offer you more. These talking points will get you much farther than “I need the money.”
- “I need the money”
Like I said above, coaches don't really care. UNLESS, you literally can't afford to stay on the team and in school without a higher scholarship. However, this only applies if number 1 is true too. If you aren't worth more money, the coach will likely just let you go, so be careful with this one.
Related: Student Loans Survival Guide
- Use other offers to negotiate a higher scholarship
If you have more than one scholarship offer, you can make the offers work for you. Tell the coaches who are offering you that you have offers from other schools. Let the schools raise your scholarship amount through bidding or competing for you on their team. This will put you out of the picture in a sense and it will allow you to get the highest scholarship offer.
* Originally published on November 19, 2021, by Brendan Duffy
