Ways to get a "full" scholarship!

As we continue to hear of 2025's who are committing to college for their prospective sport the "WUE" keeps coming into play. What does this mean? Here is the quick tea on it. The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is an agreement among WICHE’s 16 members, through which 160+ participating public colleges and universities provide steep nonresident tuition savings for Western students.

Through WUE, eligible students can choose from hundreds of undergraduate programs outside their home state, and pay no more than 150 percent of that institution’s resident tuition rate.

Since full nonresident college-tuition rates may exceed 300 percent of resident rates, WUE increases affordable higher-education choices for students, and minimizes the adverse impacts of student loan debt.

The quick and simple way to think of it is if you pick a participating school with a participating study you can get a reduced rate of tuition. Remember that for 99% of us we will not be getting a "Full ride", a smaller percent will get a "full ride" solely based on athletic abilities. Remember that we are talking about softball and baseball here. Most hoopers and footballers can get a full ride per the rules.

It is important to remember that your child is special but not that special. The coach at their prospective college is purchasing your Child's abilities to help them win games. Sounds weird when we say this but it's a good way of putting it. As with any purchase of anything all folks want a deal. As with anyone selling something all sellers want the highest value given. The sooner we understand the business side of it the better. Think of your Child's GPA as a "rebate" or a "sale".

For the coach purchasing your Child's abilities, every discount and rebate you can offer makes your child stand out from the rest. They are not only looking for 1 child to fill into the team. They are looking for a few and so with that if you can help them save some money and redistribute that to the others you become a better "buy".

Other things to know. Some schools like Ivy league schools do not offer athletic money. They do not offer academic money either as every kid has good grades. They instead offer "need based" financial aid. Look into this with your Child's perspective.

Some college softball programs are not "Fully funded" this means that they do not have all the 11.7 scholarships they are allotted. I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of scholarships and what that 11.7 means but it goes like this in short. School A might be able to offer 11 girls an absolute zero debt college education and others may only be able to offer 4 or 5. The NCAA rules say a max of 11.7 but this does not mean every school offers that many. Do your research.

As we sat around the softball dad table last night we all realized that our dreams of "free college" are most likely just that. Instead we should be talking about a "discounted" college. Understand what your kid loves to do and if they are good at it then you may get a discount. I have switched my vision and began to just love the journey in what they are becoming. For too long I have attended these games and events like a business when in reality it is the fuel to our family fire. They love to compete and love to watch them do what they love. Nothing more and nothing less. If I save some money down the road that will be the icing on the cake.