Interesting college statistics comparing costs and academics of D1 vs D3 schools

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
Recently there have been several recruiting related threads. I thought it might be helpful to share some facts and statistics I unearthed from DIY college spreadsheets http://www.diycollegerankings.com/college-spreadsheets/. I had offered to help a couple HS seniors from my son's former HS determine possible college fits, and one of them purchased the spreadsheet (great value at reg price of $42, parent got it when discounted to $21-about 200 columns of info that can be filtered). The only athletic info on the spreadsheet is that colleges can be filtered by NCAA division. Tennis fit would have to be determined using UTR.

One myth is that D3 universities cost more than public universities. However, with high endowments and generous gift aid, the top D3 schools can be affordable. I looked at the UAA and NESCAC D3 universities and computed averages. Then I compared their cost to top out of state public universities.

Some other facts before that analysis: (based on 2016/17)
There were only 25 D1 public universities with average SATs > 1300 and only 3 with average SATs >1400 (Mich, VA, Illinois)
There were 38 private D1 universities with average SATs > 1300 and 22 with average SATs >1400 (these totals included all the Ivys)
There were 65 private D3 universities with average SATs > 1300 and 14 with average SATs >1400

Here is the data on the UAA and NESCAC universities (19 programs)
Excluding New York University, average enrollment under 4000 FT undergrads

Student faculty ratio 9:1

Retention rate 95%

Average admission rate 22% (from 9% at Univ of Chicago to 38% at Connecticut College)

Average SAT 1432 (low of 1335 for Connecticut College to high of 1540 Univ of Chicago)

Avg total cost 2017/18 $70K (range of $65K-$72K)

Avg institutional grant for freshmen 2016/17 $38K

Mean earnings after 10 years $81K

Avg Debt default rate 2%

Avg net price after gift aid 2016/17 $27.5K


Avg net price after gift aid (excluding NYU) family income $48K-$75K $15K

Avg net price after gift aid (excluding NYU family income $75K-$110K $23K

Avg net price after gift aid (excluding NYU family income $110K+ $43K

17 of the 19 schools have at least 2/3 of faculty FT tenure track
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I compared these totals to UVA and Mich costs-2 of the 3 public universities with SAT avg >1400

Total price for instate students $30K+, out of state $62K for Mich and VA

Avg freshman grant aid: $18K for Mich, $19K for VA (avg institutional grant ($17K, $18K respectively)

So those 2 schools are only $8K lower than the average UAA/NESCAC school, but their grant aid averages $20K less

Student faculty ratio 11:1 Mich, 15:1 VA a little higher than UAA/NESCAC

Retention rate 95%+ same

VA 59% tenure track FT, Mich 53% More classes taught by TAs!

Unless a player is attending a public university in-state or are receiving a high amount of athletic aid, strong academic players are probably better off
attending private D1 or D3 universities with generous aid. With D3, there is also more balance between athletics and academics. Players could receive a $70K education at a top D3 for $30k or less depending on family finances.

The UTR needed for top D3 would be lower than the UTR needed for top academic D1 and Ivys. A UTR 11 would be ranked in the top 6 for 2/3 of the top D3 schools and an
11.5 would be in the top 6 for all the UAA/NESCAC universities. For an Ivy, no players UTR 12 or under would make top 6. Only at 3 of the Ivys would a 12.5 make the top 6.
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Comparison of in-state university vs higher tier D3-cost could be $15k-$20K a year higher esp if recruit would earn merit aid at in-state public university.

When I looked into costs of in-state vs high tier D3 in my home state, the costs were $20K after merit aid for net price in-state including R&B, and $35K-$40K to attend
high tier D3 (these were for players who had SATs 1250-1350 who did not have the scores or UTR to play the highest D3). However, they also did not have the UTR to play
at a state D1 or D2 school. Unfortunately it can cost more to play tennis at college than to attend school not playing tennis. These players will probably play club at a big state school
or attempt to walk on a MM state school and hope to somehow make the lineup even though their UTRs are considerably lower than top 6.
 

dak95_00

Hall of Fame
I’m not disputing any of your statistics or statements. I actually agree with you on all accounts including the raw costs to play vs not play.

The only statistic I found irrelevant or out of place was the raw number of schools and their avg SAT score by division. I’d rather see a percent of students. Why? There are far fewer D1 schools than D2 and far more D3 schools. A percentage would be a more accurate reflection rather than just a raw number.
 
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