Do those with college student-athletes with athletic and academic scholarships want to explain the disbursement process at your school? In particular -

Does the financial aid office handle the academic and athletic scholarships? Or are they controlled by two different entities?

Are there ever times when you have to put up money as parents waiting on scholarship funds to credit the student account?

Am I correct to assume that scholarships are credited on a semester basis?

And I am sure as you explain I will have more questions. I thought it might be interesting for those of us preparing for college to hear from those going through it even though we have to talk to our particular institutions for specifics.

One-stop shopping in our case. One person handled the disbursements.

Don't know who was in control.

Never had to put up money while waiting for them to fund.

Disbursed as a % of each school terms fees, one term at a time.

My son was on a athletic scholarship which was released to the bursers office before the bill was due before each semester and we paid the balance.

I can't speak for others, but that was our experience. Not sure what happens when academic money or need based is applied late.

That is pretty much how it works. The scholarships and bills are on a semester basis. The athletic dept. gives the scholarship amount to accounting. The out of state tuition waiver, in our case (if applicable) is handled through the financial aid office and reflected as an academic scholarship on the account. All the accounting is handled before the semester starts.

Yes they are not going to hand it over to anyone. It is probably just a paper transaction like a discount.
Some scholarships are a % and I believe most are dollar amounts. You get a bill either in the mail or on their site and it shows the breakdown. Don't forget that many colleges require you to have insurance which can be as much as $1000 per year. That insurance is also paid on a semester basis. It may be necessary depending on the school and also for collegiate summer league.

In true "full ride" sports like basketball and football, you can get checks for housing and food allowances if you live off campus. Players look for ways to spend less than the allowances, to get pocket money net. Va. Tech had a problem with its football players applying for Section 8 housing a few years back -- bad PR there -- all related to their trying to pocket more of the money.

In baseball, hardly anyone gets enough for that to happen, but I suppose there are a few.

Has anyone of you heard about colleges paying the grants monthly, while the school wants their tuition money at the beginning of the semester?

I had a mother of a highly sought after player a week before he was going to move in his freshman year, almost in tears stating that they did not realize that they would have to front the monies for the out of state school. I was concerned for them as the school had a reputation for over recruiting and shedding their players off to JCs in the fall.

He did stay at the school, but that was the only situation that I had heard of, but did not know if that was practiced at other institutions.

At son's school it's simple and straightforward. Just looked @ his statement for the next semester. It lists his baseball scholarship amount, the merit scholarship from the school, and another scholarship he has. It's all done internally and we don't see any other statements.

If you are on a full ride and live off campus, you receive a stipend each semester, which usually does not cover all of your off campus living expenses where housing is more than some players can afford. If you live on campus it's covered.

Schools are pretty good with their accounting, the money should be there well before the first day of the new semester but if not you should find out what the grace period is for non payment.

We had a few disbursement hiccups since we didn't know the order or process.

We got detailed bills from the bursar's office, called financial aid, then were routed to the athletic office, who told us not to pay anything on the bill (those bills are confusing).

At son's institution, he does get the monthly check toward his apartment rent as some already mentioned.

Also, the kids get some $ to buy nicer traveling clothes.

ALSO, a huge surprise to us was this: son did not play summer ball between soph and junior year so he could rest and rehab an injury. Instead, he stayed and went to summer school and we awaited a bill for that AND expected to help with rent. School ended up paying for all of that, too! Who knew that if you went to summer school your scholarship would continue to help you out?!

It isn't mentioned in his paperwork, but was a pleasant surprise.

Son's school disburses on a semester basis.
Spring Tuition is due January 9. His scholly credit is already on his account.
They base it on a "standard":
15 credit hours (tuition & fees)
Room (freshman must live on campus)
Board (assumption is 14 meals/week plan)

I had to call the athletic office to tell them son was taking 16 credit hours and on the unlimited meal plan.

Since my son's scholly is based on a percentage (not hard $ amount), they adjusted the scholly amount on his account in less than 24 hours. NICE!

jb,

% deals are usually paid out based on what a "typical" student would incur, with the only distinction being in-state vs. out-of-state.

Our bill gets a credit for a $ number based on a % that is in turn based on the assumption that son takes the unlimited meal plan -- which he actually does, but if he were to drop to the 14-meal plan, his $ credit would not decline and he would thus keep 100% of the savings if he reduced his meal plan.

Another odd accounting quirk, which works in the player's favor, is that the school only has to get charged something like $400 for books allowance, but the school can actually commit to paying all the books expense even though it is typically a lot more than $400. Son has to give the books back when the semester ends, but who cares about that? It's just another way the compliance office figured out how to help the players out within the confines of the NCAA rules. Those rules are byzantine and frequently illogical, usually to the player's detriment, so in those rare cases where you can benefit, it's great to take advantage.

Here's another quirk,

Son's agreement from school specifically states that unless athlete is on a FULL scholarship, books are NOT included in the %age calculation....!