Gaining Admission: Athletes Win Preference

Even elite liberal arts colleges that -- strictly speaking -- do not give athletic scholarships have joined the fray, climbing down the academic ladder for players... Asked why they invest money, effort and places in their freshman classes to succeed in such minor sports as volleyball or crew, college officials tend to talk in generalities about school spirit and the campus culture they seek to foster.  "We start out with the premise that we want to be good in everything we do," said Richard Fuller, dean of admissions and financial aid at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.  "There is a general sense of excellence about these places that starts with academics and extends throughout."... In general financial aid is not the definitive factor in recruiting of athletes at Division III colleges, especially among those committed to awarding scholarships on the basis of demonstrated financial need.  Still, while barred from offering athletic scholarships, colleges may give athletes nee-based financial aid packages that have more grant money and less in repayable loans than those offered to nonathletes.  "I don't think I would have been given as large a scholarship if I were only a student," said Sarah Gloo, a lacrosse player at Hamilton College.