Junior College is only for young kids right (AKA Juniors)……..NOPE!

In my last blog we spoke about how Junior College can land you a D1 (NCAA Division 1) Scholarship. In short, you study and compete for two years and then you transfer to a four-year college or university and then study and compete for your final two years. Many international student athletes transfer into bigger schools after their first two years.

The goal for most internationals is to come in, gain valuable college experience and then transfer on. So literally……. 100% of the kids that wanted to transfer on are transferred. That’s what makes a junior college program look really good. It’s about getting kids in, developing them both academically and athletically, and then seeing them move on to bigger schools.

Why would you go to Iowa Central (NJCAA/Junior College) for instance? Well, look at how many kids that they have worked with in just the last three years and look at where they’ve transferred to.

“That’s what makes a junior college program look really good. It’s about getting kids in, developing them both academically and athletically, and then seeing them move on to bigger schools”

For example:

• Kane Virtue -Track and Field Athlete (Sprinter), Just started at Colorado State University – he didn’t have Division 1 offers to begin with, spent two years at one of the best junior college track and field program in the United States (Iowa Central), built his grades, got the experience moved on to Division 1 program.
• Lewis Cain – Went to Butler (Junior College in Kansas), Decathlete, he did two years there and he’s now moved to McNeese State in the State in Louisiana, NCAA Division 1.
• Jackson Bugdalski – Golfer. He didn’t have the grades coming out of High school in Australia went to Indian Hills (Junior College in Iowa). Absolutely lit it up on the golf course for two years, transferred on full scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, massive Division 1 program. One of the top golf programs in the USA.

“Every great athlete is not always a great student.”

There’s thousands of stories exactly like these of kids that use the junior college system as a stepping stone to something bigger. That’s what it’s designed for, that’s what makes it worth it, that’s what makes the junior college look good when you’re transferring kids on, so it’s brilliant.

And if all these athletes are obviously transferring to these bigger schools, the athletic standards must be pretty decent at the junior college level. The easiest thing to say is every great athlete is not always a great student.

I mean kids that are really good at sport oftentimes aren’t incredibly good in the classroom, it’s hard to maintain both. Some are and that’s great. But look, for a number of different reasons this may be the case, maybe they didn’t take the right classes in high school to be eligible, maybe their GPA wasn’t high enough to get enough academic money or additional money to make a bigger school affordable.

There’s a lot of kids that are Division 1, Division 2, top NAIA, really, really top-level prospects that for whatever reason needed to go the junior college route to get their grades up, to gain eligibility.

“Then it’s a lot easier for a coach to give a big scholarship to a junior college transfer with two years of experience, than it is to take a punt and give a huge scholarship to an international kid with no experience at all”

So that means that all those top-level athletes competing in junior college, are competing at standards just as high as those bigger schools, because that’s the thing, those coaches are looking to junior colleges for experienced athletes.

They can see that the kids have done very, very well over a two-year period. Have raised their grades, have improved their eligibility and then it’s a lot easier for a coach to give a big scholarship to a junior college transfer with two years of experience, than it is to take a punt and give a huge scholarship to an international kid with no experience at all.

 

Junior college is about adjusting to that lifestyle, traveling, competing, studying and American athletes use it the exact same way as internationals do. To adjust, because it’s a completely different environment to not only high school here but also high school in the states. It’s something that they’ll need to adjust to as well.

“Every single division of collegiate sport, Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, NAIA, Junior College, you are going to have high levels of competition”

High school sports in the States is on a different level compared to here. College sport is on another level, and it does take time to adjust. No matter if you’re at a junior college or a four-year college or university, again collegiate sports … The expectation around collegiate sport, like the time commitment, the amount of training. Junior colleges train and have just as good facilities as bigger schools.

They got just as qualified coaches that are managing sessions and running programs, they’re developing kids in the exact same way just for a shorter period of time. So, when that first and second year is done, all that development that they experienced helps them to then move that student athlete on. And then that student athlete then moves on to a school that is still catered to their individual ability.

“It helps getting into the routine and lifestyle of being a college athlete”

Every single division of collegiate sport, Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, NAIA, junior college, you are going to have high levels of competition and you’re going to have lower levels of competition. You are going to have different standards within different divisions. High level athletes will continue to be high level athletes.

Athletes that are right in the middle of the road will move on to programs that cater to their ability right in the middle of the road. If a kid just has a great passion for a sport and he’s not very good at all, then look, there’re schools that cater to that with junior varsity programs and programs that just aren’t that good. No matter what kind of athlete and what kind of student that you are, a junior college can be a great step, because if you’re high level then you go and play at a high level. If you’re lower level, then there’s an opportunity that caters to that. And then when it comes to then moving on, you’re going to continue on a track that suits you the individual.

“Use Junior colleges to build their grades and improve their eligibility”

I believe, for internationals, junior colleges are a great destination for a couple reasons. One, because most internationals are working on a budget, costs are lower. And it helps with adjusting to the system, it helps getting into the routine and lifestyle of being a college athlete. And ultimately, sometimes you can’t help that you didn’t take the right classes to be eligible for something else, like in another country here in Australia and New Zealand they’re not providing coursework.

It’s not a standard of practice in other countries to sit there and say, “We’re going to provide you with options that will allow you to be eligible for the NCAA in the United States.” Unless you’re specifically looking for that, it’s not just going to be given or handed to you.

The education system in Australia and New Zealand is catered to university in Australia and New Zealand. You have to make conscious decisions to have both options here and there. And look, sometimes it’s completely out of your control which is why a lot of internationals not just from Australia and New Zealand, but all over the globe will use Junior colleges to build their grades and improve their eligibility, get valuable, valuable playing experience, showcase themselves on US soil and then move on to bigger and better opportunities because that is what it’s all about.

“Using Junior College as a stepping stone to that larger institution is a great pathway for all internationals”

The athletic standards in junior colleges are just as high as every other division out there, they’re not TAFEs either.

Using junior college as a stepping stone to that larger institution is a great pathway for all internationals to first, get that experience and then move on in the name of the game. It’s also a fantastic way to keep costs low and affordable all four years. It’s about being affordable, as well as sustainable. That’s the key. I think the biggest mistake that I’ve seen kids make over the last few years is saying, “Well look, this school is going to cost a lot … Basically I have to double my budget in the first year, but I’ll go in, I’ll earn that scholarship and then that’ll make the next years a lot cheaper.”

Well, what happens when they go in and they’re not as good as they thought they were, or they don’t earn as much scholarship as they thought they would, and the next year costs the exact same as what the first year, and then you’ve blown your budget out, and it’s no longer feasible or sustainable. It becomes a struggle and you can’t stay. So, you haven’t maximized your experience.

“Go to a Junior College that was $12,500 a year in total for everything, for the same first and second years of credits that were offered at Waldorf University”

So, affordability is first. Affordability and sustainability. Junior colleges are a lot cheaper, I’ll use Matt Wade from our office here at NSR Australia as an example, he graduated from Waldorf University. Waldorf university was $36,000 a year at full price.

If he tried to go to that school right from the start with his GPA, he would have paid $36,000, and he didn’t have the money to do that nor does anyone really. I don’t expect anyone to be able to do that. So, it made a lot more sense for him to go to a junior college that was $12,500 a year in total for everything, for the same first and second years of credits that were offered at Waldorf University.

That included his accommodation, meals, all the sporting and travel, schooling as well. That was absolutely everything. He also had the ability to receive a scholarship. So instead of starting with a price tag of $36,000 and having the scholarship down from there, he is only starting at $12,500, you’re in a much better position than if you are on a small scholarship from a school that’s $36,000 a year. And remember, you’re still taking the exact same course for a fraction of the price.

“He was able to qualify for a $20,000 Sport Scholarship and a $10,000 academic scholarship and only paid a total of $6,000 pa for his final two years.”

“Your first year, you’re paying $12,500. And that’s, fair. You earn your scholarship for your second year, so you come in and you do the right thing in the classroom. You do as well as you can on the field, you’re a good teammate, you train hard, you stay out of trouble off the field. You do all the things right in your first year and your coach will cut your costs in half for your second year and received a scholarship in your second year, so 12,500 in your first year, 6,000 in your second year, and then those two years of experience, getting transferred onto a school where you are able to qualify for $20,000 in scholarship when you moved on. If I had gone there straightaway he wouldn’t have qualified for any scholarship at that bigger school right away, but because he went the junior college route got his grades up.

When he transferred to Waldorf with his playing experience that helped him secure more athletic scholarship and his academics were up higher instead of paying $36,000 he was able to qualify for a $20,000 Sport Scholarship and a $10,000 academic scholarship and only paid a total of $6,000 pa for his final two years.

“There’s always affordable opportunities in the two year pathway that are going to provide phenomenal opportunities for progression through the US system.”

So, you’ll see lots of international and even Americans heading to junior colleges to begin with, to save a bit of money. Saving money is important, making costs affordable, making the institution affordable for you to attend is important. As it is a four your pathway.

I guess the good thing for families to understand, and what we do here at NSR, it’s like no matter what happens with that promotion to larger schools there’s always affordable opportunities in the two-year pathway that are going to provide phenomenal opportunities for progression through the US system. So, it’s always an option that’s there, it doesn’t necessarily mean that, that’s where we push everybody because again like I said, everybody’s different.

Everybody wants different things. But if it makes the most sense financially, you don’t have a big budget then you definitely should look at a junior college pathway, because it’s going to allow you to get the first two years of that course work at a fraction of the price of those bigger schools, and it’s also going to make the transition to the bigger schools, and getting bigger scholarships a lot easier.

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