FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[JT]

Curious about Rowan...Apparently people don't think they are as good this year as they may have been in past years. I haven't followed  them much. What positions need more strength?  I saw a post on another board about transfers. Maybe Rowan can pick up some too.

dlip a bit frustrated with the Profs loss this weekend. He has been quite wrong about Rowan all year.

Rowan hasn't had the big, consistent play makers, that really scare other teams like they used to.  Since the early 90's they went from stud QB to stud QB with nary an off year. All were transfers.  Many were older having spent time away from school after going to the DI, DI-AA or DII program. There wasn't any question who had the best QB in the NJAC and mostly likely the East.  Now you can't say that.   That's not saying that Bianchini isn't a good DIII QB, but all previous ones received NFL consideration, and at least one to my recollection was invited to an NFL camp.

Rowan has been missing the stud QB since 2006.

The Profs also were fortified with good backs and multiple big play receivers... some straight out of HS and some transfers.  With multiple threats, it was hard to shut down everything.  Now teams can target the big threat or two, and shut it down.

I think the overall rise of teams in NJAC has spread the talent around.  Its not a given that Rowan can lure a top guy away from William Paterson or Kean.  It used to be if a kid was really good, he avoided Jersey City, Willy P, and Kean like the plague.

I also think MAC and Wesley recruiting is hurting Rowan too.  Rowan has gotten more expensive over the years... about 20K.  Private schools can often put together better packages then a state school for a kid they want.  For example, I know for a fact that Mount Union can reduce its $25K+ tuition to about $12.5K for athletes.

[Pat Coleman]

Just curious as to how you know that as a fact ...

[skunks_sidekick]

Just curious as to how you know that as a fact ...

There is a "standing offer" amongst almost all OAC schools, that if you can achieve a 24 on the ACT, and finish in the top 10% of your class, you get $5K for each.  So that's 10K off the top, before any other considerations/scholarships/merit money is added in. 

So I am sure more than a few kids get their costs cut in half, but it certainly isn't all gazillion (200+) players on the roster.

[pumkinattack]

You get money for a 24 on the ACT?  Did they change the scoring since the mid 90's?  In my day you needed a 30 or better to merit much of anything. 

[skunks_sidekick]

PA
Not sure what it was like in the mid 90's, but over the last five years that has been fairly standard.  I use the last five years because I had a daughter, neice, and a neighbor kid go through the college choice process.

The basic premise is to allow the OAC schools to compete financially against the state schools in Ohio.  If a prospective student is considering attending OU (which was approximately $16,000 a few years ago when my daughter was a senior), the B-W/UMU's (which my daughter considered attending) want to take away cost as the deciding factor when choosing. 

For my daughter, the "party factor", and the fact that more than a few of her friends were attending OU, swung her choice there.  I can proudly say that she graduated in four years, doing quite well.  In that regard, she certainly outdid her old man who was on the six year, "partying plan" at Kent.   

[JT]

Just curious as to how you know that as a fact ...

I did this a few years ago with help from Phil.  Here's a current look:

Current room and board at Mt. Union:  $33,850
76% of students receive financial assistance... average aid is $19,313 which includes:

•    Grants and/or scholarships (which the student does not repay)
•    Work on campus (which pays an hourly wage)
•    Low-interest loans (repayment is normally deferred until after graduation from college)

Enrollment is 2,200
Men 52%/1,144
Approximate amount of football players 200
17.5% of Men are football players

200 x 76% = 152 players receiving aid

$14,537 is the average tuition for 152 football players. 

The University also allocates institutional funds to be offered to students as merit-based awards. In 2009-2010, Mount Union students received financial aid in excess of $48 million. More than $22 million of that total was awarded in the form of institutional grants or scholarships.

$22 million x 52% = $11.440 Million x 17.5% = $2,002,000 merit based awards available for football

$2,002,000 / $33,850 = 59 full scholarships

$2,002,000 / $16,925 = 118 half scholarships for football

[Pat Coleman]

So that's for any student, right? Not just for athletes?

[JT]

So that's for any student, right? Not just for athletes?

Which is why I broke out the $22 million in grant money/scholarship "free money" by the males and then by the percentage of males that are football players. If the 22 million is spread evenly among the entire student body, the football team theoretically gets 9.1% of the $22 million in free, no pay back cash for grants and scholarship $2,002,000. It gives the football team the ability to offer 59 full scholarships or 118 half scholarships w/o even adding aid packages and low interest loans, sweetening the pot even more.

A private school is better able to put together packages for athletes on the DIII level.  A year or so ago a North Jersey kid got a better package to go to Union and play football, than a state DIII school.  Union was cheaper.  Reason why.  Family was upper middle class and got no breaks from the state schools.

State have more government restrictions and rules when it comes to aid and grants.

[Knightstalker]

I also believe from my own experience that private schools seem to have better financial aid offices and put forth more effort to get the students all the aid they can.

[JT]

I also believe from my own experience that private schools seem to have better financial aid offices and put forth more effort to get the students all the aid they can.

Non-scholarship state college's financial aid offices are the equivalent of the DMV, the IRS, the post office etc.,

[Pat Coleman]

So that's for any student, right? Not just for athletes?

Which is why I broke out the $22 million in grant money/scholarship "free money" by the males and then by the percentage of males that are football players. If the 22 million is spread evenly among the entire student body, the football team theoretically gets 9.1% of the $22 million in free, no pay back cash for grants and scholarship $2,002,000. It gives the football team the ability to offer 59 full scholarships or 118 half scholarships w/o even adding aid packages and low interest loans, sweetening the pot even more.

A private school is better able to put together packages for athletes on the DIII level.  A year or so ago a North Jersey kid got a better package to go to Union and play football, than a state DIII school.  Union was cheaper.  Reason why.  Family was upper middle class and got no breaks from the state schools.

State have more government restrictions and rules when it comes to aid and grants.

Any pot that is sweeter for athletes than it is for non-athletes is going to run afoul of the NCAA financial aid auditing process. I just think you were misleading by saying it was that way for athletes, when in fact, it has to be that way for everyone, within the NCAA's 4% variance.

[Warren Thompson]

So that's for any student, right? Not just for athletes?

Which is why I broke out the $22 million in grant money/scholarship "free money" by the males and then by the percentage of males that are football players. If the 22 million is spread evenly among the entire student body, the football team theoretically gets 9.1% of the $22 million in free, no pay back cash for grants and scholarship $2,002,000. It gives the football team the ability to offer 59 full scholarships or 118 half scholarships w/o even adding aid packages and low interest loans, sweetening the pot even more.

A private school is better able to put together packages for athletes on the DIII level.  A year or so ago a North Jersey kid got a better package to go to Union and play football, than a state DIII school.  Union was cheaper.  Reason why.  Family was upper middle class and got no breaks from the state schools.

State have more government restrictions and rules when it comes to aid and grants.

Any pot that is sweeter for athletes than it is for non-athletes is going to run afoul of the NCAA financial aid auditing process. I just think you were misleading by saying it was that way for athletes, when in fact, it has to be that way for everyone, within the NCAA's 4% variance.

If Mt. Union is so flagrantly breaking the rules, wouldn't someone have blown the whistle on them by now? [Let me amend that: If JT has the goods on them, he should blow the whistle.]

[bill]

Mt. Union doesn't get in trouble because they do it for everyone. 

Here's two other examples - what about schools that meet 100% of financial aid via grant, and not loans?  There's not that many at DIII, but that is a HUGE advantage.

Or we bump it up to the "big three" ivy's - Princeton, Yale, Harvard. Families whose combined income is below a certain level pay practically nothing. Talk about the potential recruiting advantages there.  I always joke with my friends that if any one of these schools really wanted to win - they'd win BIG.

[bill]

JT

you wrote "I also think MAC and Wesley recruiting is hurting Rowan too.  Rowan has gotten more expensive over the years... about 20K.  Private schools can often put together better packages then a state school for a kid they want.  For example, I know for a fact that Mount Union can reduce its $25K+ tuition to about $12.5K for athletes. "

While I agree with your MAC comment, I think it's ironic that the one NJ school in the MAC can't compete with financial aid against the NJAC, because the state money washes out with FDU!
It's also why FDU should be recruiting in PA heavily, but that's another post for a different forum

[JT]

JT

you wrote "I also think MAC and Wesley recruiting is hurting Rowan too.  Rowan has gotten more expensive over the years... about 20K.  Private schools can often put together better packages then a state school for a kid they want.  For example, I know for a fact that Mount Union can reduce its $25K+ tuition to about $12.5K for athletes. "

While I agree with your MAC comment, I think it's ironic that the one NJ school in the MAC can't compete with financial aid against the NJAC, because the state money washes out with FDU!
It's also why FDU should be recruiting in PA heavily, but that's another post for a different forum

Teams are getting more competitive relative to Rowan's recruiting areas, but the big key is the QB. That is the main reason why Rowan hasn't been Rowan.