When families hear D2 or D3, they often hear “didn’t make D1.” That framing is wrong, and it costs families real money and real opportunities every recruiting cycle.
What D2 actually is
D2 offers athletic scholarships — up to 9.9 for women’s soccer, 9 for men’s soccer, 12 for women’s lacrosse. Hundreds of tennis programs operate across D2 nationally. Scholarships are equivalency-based, meaning they can be split among multiple players. A player who earns a 50% athletic scholarship at a D2 program and stacks it with academic merit aid can receive a better financial package than a player who gets a 20% partial offer at a low-major D1 program where they barely crack the lineup.
D2 competition is genuinely high level. The gap between the bottom of D1 and the top of D2 is often smaller than families expect. Many All-American D2 athletes were recruited by D1 programs and chose D2 for financial or fit reasons.
What D3 actually is
D3 offers no athletic scholarships. That’s the full story most people know. What they don’t know is that D3 includes some of the most academically elite, financially generous, and athletically competitive programs in the country. Emory, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, the NESCAC schools, the DIII schools of the UAA — these institutions provide significant academic merit aid and need-based aid that can rival or beat athletic scholarship packages at D1 and D2 programs.
A family with demonstrated financial need and a student-athlete with a 3.9 GPA applying to an academically selective D3 school may receive $60,000 to $70,000 per year in aid. That’s not a consolation prize — that’s a better financial outcome than most D1 athletic scholarships, at a school with better academics and potentially better career outcomes.
The question that actually matters
Don’t ask “what’s the highest division my kid can play at?” Ask “at which program will my kid get the most playing time, the best financial package, and the best four-year experience?” Those answers often point to D2 or D3. The families who figure this out early build better school lists, get more offers, and make better decisions.
Want to know honestly what division your athlete fits — and what that means financially? Free assessment, no sales call.