Despite the common perception that athletes receive preferential treatment in the scholarships process, Guilford athletes are actually getting 5 percent less of their needs met than the rest of the student body. At face value, the $776 more a year that the average athlete receives seems to favor them over non-athletes. However, the average athlete’s family earns 14 percent less than a regular student’s. Based on their financial needs, athletes would need to be paid $1,473 more than a regular student for the same amount of their need to be met.

Everyone who applied for scholarships filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) and plugged their family’s income into a single-variable equation called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

College Cost – EFC = Need

According to the NCAA Division III Financial Aid Reporting Program Final Aggregate Report, the average “need” of a Guilford athlete last year was $14,002, while the average non-athlete “needed” $11,692. For that need, the average athlete received $8,511 (61 percent of need) and the average non-athlete received $7,735 (66 percent of need). To correct the 5-percent difference in need met, an average athlete would have to receive $697 more per year.

If this discrepancy becomes greater than 8 percent in favor of or against athletes, it constitutes a violation of NCAA regulations – 5 percent is closely skirting that.

The imbalance usually is paid by athletes’ families, since most athletes, like sophomore basketball player Barry Wells, don’t have the time to work.

Said Wells, “Most D-III schools offer small scholarships or some kind of aid for athletes. When I applied to Guilford, I was hoping to get enough aid to help cover my need but it came up around $3,900 short. My family can’t cover that, so I’ve had to take out student loans, which is difficult as a lower income student.”

Guilford gave some athletic scholarships before it became a NCAA Division III school in 1990. Ever since, athletes have had to compete for the same scholarships as everyone else, and alumni donations for athletics have gone to team budgets and facilities instead. “People shouldn’t be (cheated) just for being athletes,” said junior Lauren Nagao. “Alumni should be able to give to athletes who need help instead of million-dollar press boxes and brick buildings.”

Theoretically student athletes are just as likely as anyone else to become eligible for merit-based scholarships. However, an equal increase in need between athletes and other students met by merit-based scholarships leaves the same 5 percent discrepancy in favor of non-athletes.

Being a Division III school is an important part of Guilford’s cultural and athletic community, but without an even distribution of aid, athletes come to play here at a considerable cost.