Scholarships
i.e. – sometimes we need a reality check
Who gets tennis scholarships in the U.S.
Colleges that offer athletic scholarships typically have robust football and basketball programs that provide the revenue to fund other sports.
- In the US, 61% of Division 1 tennis players are from other countries.
- Men’s teams can only offer 4.5 scholarships,
- There are 255 D1 schools
- 255 X 4.5 = 1147 total scholarships
- 39% of 1147 = 447 US scholarships
- 447 divided by four college classes (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) = 111 per year for freshmen
- 111 divided by 50 states = 2.23 per state
So, if you are one of the top 2 players in your state, there is a chance you might get a scholarship somewhere.
But even then, not all of those scholarships are full rides, since some schools divde up their 4.5 mens scholarships among multiple players.
“Only 1.6 percent of high school tennis players play Division I, 1.1 percent play Division II, and 2.3 percent play Division III tennis.” (see article)
Scholarships at MIU
Probably the realistic thing to say is that we don’t have scholarships ready to go, but if you are an exceptional player and have a strong affinity for our school, we may be able to inspire a donor to support your education to a degree. By exceptional player you would probably need an NTRP rating of 6+ for a woman and at least 5.5 for a male. Those figures translate to UTR ratings of 10-12 (F) and 11-13 (M). That probably means that you have been playing tennis since age 6, you have had many dozens of lessons, you have played many junior and regional/national tournaments, and you are highly ranked in your state/region/country.
Who we are really built for
In most schools even if you get on a college team you may never really get to play actual matches. MIU is really best for someone who wants to continue playing tennis and also loves the idea of a low-stress sports and school experience with one class at a time, private rooms, and a technology of self-development at the core of a traditional university education.
The Good News
Our school is not expensive in comparson with other schools. The average cost of attendance for a US student living on campus at an in-state public 4-year institution is $27,146 per year. Out-of-state students pay $45,708 per year. Private, nonprofit university students pay $58,628 per year. MIU is the latter kind of school but only costs $23,900 a year, there is no out of state penalty, and most US students pay nothing after grants and loans (see costs calculator here).