FSU Athletic Scholarships

Here's an interesting article on athletic scholarships and how they work at a university like Florida State.

Why Are Scholarships Important?

Providing young men and women an opportunity to receive a great college education is our primary goal. Students who compete for Florida State University are not just committed to developing their talents as athletes. They strive for comprehensive excellence, by working hard in the classroom to prepare for a career, and devoting limited spare time to serve their community.

Charlie, Colleen, Warrick, Gabby, Andre, Luis, Sue, Derrick, Jane, T.K., Rohn, Jessica, and Burt are all names and faces that are an integral part of the rich tapestry of Florida State Tradition. Behind those recognizable names and faces are thousands more young people who have proudly worn the garnet and gold. All of us have been immeasurably enriched by the character and contributions of these young men and women.

They have made us proud. They used their education and life lessons learned by participation in athletics to become community and government leaders, judges, doctors, teachers, and captains of industry.

Many of these Seminoles would not have come to Florida State, or even attended college, without an athletic scholarship.

Does Every Student-Athlete Receive A Full Scholarship?

Most do, but many receive only a partial scholarship. Each year, approximately 320 students receive some type of athletic scholarship. We maintain 240.2 full athletic scholarships. That is the maximum number of scholarships allowed under NCAA rules for each of our men and women’s sports. We also provide scholarships for athletic trainers, managers, and graduate assistants.

What Does A Scholarship Cover?

A full scholarship includes tuition, meals, books, materials, and housing. Athletic scholarships provide both in-state and out-of-state tuition. In addition to the fall and spring semesters, scholarships also provide for the student athletes’ expenses during summer sessions and pre- and post -school periods.

How Much Does A Scholarship Cost?

For the school year ending June 2006, the AVERAGE cost of an athletic scholarship was approximately $30,000. Our student-athletes are currently and traditionally almost evenly divided between Florida residents and non-Florida residents. That means that half are subject to in state tuition and half to out of state tuition. Scholarships for out of state students cost twice as much as for in state students.

Who Pays For The Scholarships?

The Athletic Department is required to pay all of the student-athletes’ scholarship expenses, including tuition. Until the present time, gifts from annual Seminole Booster donors (Golden Chief, Silver Chief, etc.) have been transferred to the Athletic Department to pay those scholarship costs.

Providing scholarships for its students is the most important function of the Athletic Department. However, these scholarship costs are also the single largest item in the athletic budget.

Those costs in 2006/2007 were over $7,800,000.

Why Are Scholarship Costs Rising So Fast?

Until 2001, our scholarship costs rose an average of 9.5% per year, far outpacing inflation. However, in the two subsequent years, costs rose at an alarming rate, from $4.5 million to $6 million! Anyone who has had a child in college knows that textbook costs have gone out of sight, and food and housing are more expensive each year. But those costs cannot explain the dramatic jump in scholarship costs.

Florida State University has always been one of the best bargains in America for a great education. Until recently, our tuition has been one of the lowest in the country. The University has been forced to substantially raise in-state tuition. More important to athletics, where half of their students are from outside Florida, the University has radically raised out of state tuition rates.

Additionally, the NCAA’s new progression rule (how a student is progressing toward graduation) has mandated that almost all of our student-athletes attend both summer sessions. This is affecting all NCAA schools, and all athletes, whether A or C students.

Increases in tuition and the progression rules are quickly driving scholarship costs to a point that they will be more than annual booster donor gifts. As a result, a fully funded scholarship endowment is imperative.

What Is An Endowment?

An endowment fund is one whose principal stays intact, while a portion of the earnings (traditionally 5% of the corpus) is gifted for a specific purpose. The portion of the annual earnings not gifted is left in the corpus, allowing the fund to grow. Because a donor’s original endowment gift remains intact, he or she is making a gift that will give in perpetuity.