FAFSA results caused college to revoke athletic scholarship - is this normal?

this happened to my daughter too!! the soccer coach promised her $15k athletic scholarship but after fafsa they cut it to $5k saying her pell grant covered most of tuition. such a bait and switch!! still mad about it 2 years later.

Did you try talking to the coach or financial aid office? I'm worried they'll think we're being ungrateful if we push back.

This practice is unfortunately common and is called

Thank you for giving this a name! \

wait im confused, isnt the FAFSA money just loans you have to pay back anyway?? why would they take away free scholarship money and replace it with loans??

This is a common misunderstanding. FAFSA results can qualify you for grants (like the Pell Grant) which don't need to be repaid, work-study opportunities, AND loans. The college is likely counting the grant portion, not loans, when adjusting the athletic scholarship. OP should request a detailed breakdown of their aid package showing exactly which FAFSA-based aid is replacing the athletic scholarship.

You absolutely need to speak up! My nephew lost half his baseball scholarship after FAFSA results came in, but after we pushed back they reinstated 75% of it. The key is approaching it as a DISCUSSION not a COMPLAINT. Explain that you were counting on combining aid sources to cover the full cost of attendance (tuition PLUS room/board/books) and ask if there's any flexibility. Be prepared with exact numbers and don't be emotional (even though it IS emotional!). And don't worry about your son's standing with the coach - these are business decisions and coaches deal with these conversations all the time.

Thank you for sharing your experience! It's encouraging to hear they reinstated some of your nephew's scholarship. Did you talk to the coach directly or go through financial aid? I'm planning to write everything down before calling so I sound composed.

I work in college financial aid (not at an athletic school) but I can explain what's happening. Many schools have an

This is spot-on advice. OP, make sure you ask for that joint meeting with both departments. When we navigated this, we found the financial aid office and athletic department weren't communicating well, and getting them in the same conversation helped tremendously.

I spent HOURS trying to get through to the Federal Student Aid helpline when we had a similar issue last year. When I finally reached them, they explained that colleges have discretion in how they distribute institutional aid, but federal aid shouldn't affect merit scholarships. If you're struggling to get answers, I recommend using Claimyr.com to connect with an FSA agent quickly. They have a good video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. It saved me from the endless hold times, and the agent I talked to gave me documentation about federal aid rules that helped in our appeal.

Thank you for this suggestion! I've been on hold with FSA for 45+ minutes several times this week trying to understand our options. I'll check out that site - anything to avoid more hold music!

This is a nightmare situation and happens WAY more than it should. Colleges are basically penalizing your family for qualifying for federal aid by pulling back their own money. It's completely unethical but technically legal. Document EVERYTHING from here forward. Get names, dates, and notes from every conversation. If you had any written offers, gather those too. The sad reality is that for many athletic scholarships, nothing is guaranteed until the financial aid award letter is signed. We had to threaten to go to the NCAA compliance officer before our daughter's softball scholarship was reinstated.

OMG wish i'd known about the NCAA compliance angle!! might have helped us two years ago.

I never thought about the NCAA compliance aspect. I'm going to start a detailed log of all communications. Did your daughter's standing on the team get affected when you pushed back?

my cousin's boyfriend got a full ride for football and they didn't take anything away when he got fafsa money. maybe it depends on the sport? football and basketball players get treated better than other sports at most schools tbh

This is actually true. Revenue-generating sports (football, basketball) often have different scholarship structures and more negotiating power than non-revenue sports. It's not fair, but it's reality.

Update from OP? Were you able to resolve this? For anyone facing this issue, here's a template email you can adapt for your situation:\n\n\

Thank you SO MUCH for this template! I just got off the phone with the financial aid office, and they explained their

This is such a frustrating situation and unfortunately more common than it should be. As someone who went through something similar with my daughter's volleyball scholarship, I'd recommend a few things: 1) Get everything in writing from now on - follow up phone calls with emails summarizing what was discussed, 2) Ask for a meeting with BOTH the athletic department AND financial aid office together so they can't pass the buck between departments, and 3) Come prepared with your total cost of attendance breakdown showing how you planned to use the combined aid. The key argument is that athletic scholarships and need-based aid serve different purposes and shouldn't be mutually exclusive. Also, make sure you understand exactly what type of FAFSA aid is being counted - grants vs loans make a huge difference in your appeal strategy. Don't give up without fighting for it!