These universities appear to look for the athlete and don t take the academic part of the student s life as seriously. Concordia cannot give out athletic scholarships because of NCAA Division III requirements. Athletes have to go through the same financial aid process as everyone else. A school that gives athletic scholarships can get more numbers to come out of their program. That is an advantage, but because of Concordia College s quality, we can get some good athletes, according to Pipho.
Many athletes don t get any financial aid because of their family s earnings.
Another example he mentioned were the track and baseball athletes. Their season continues after school is out, so they miss out on early job hunting. Not many people realize the sacrifice an athlete has to make, said Christopherson. I feel fortunate with 30 or 40 freshmen out for football as freshmen stick with it until they graduate, according to Christopherson. Since retention is high, this tells us the boys enjoy football.