What do you know about Junior College Athletics?

Daytona State plays within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), an organization that serves as the governing body for two-year athletic programs.  The NJCAA sponsors 26 different sports at 525 institutions across the United States. Like the NCAA, member institutions can choose to compete at the Division I, II or II level.  Similar to the NCAA, the difference between the divisions is the amount of athletic scholarship money provided by each institution.   

At Daytona State, our programs compete at the NJCAA Division I level. Our institution has chosen to support our athlete's experience with athletic scholarships, competitive budgets, and exceptional facilities. Over the last four years, our program has compiled a record of 45 wins and 15 losses. We have competed in three Region 8 Championship games, been consistently ranked within the Top 10 in the country and most importantly had a 100% success rate at moving players on to four-year institutions.  This is direct result of the support we receive from the College as well as the commitment and dedication from our players and staff.   

Why Choose Us First - Financial Benefit 

Many of our alumni and current student-athletes received offers to play at four-year institutions (NCAA & NAIA) but decided for a number of reasons it was better for them to choose a different route to pursue their education and playing career.  Many decided that junior college provides more value financially, educationally, or personally. One of the most common statements we hear revolves around the increasing cost of college tuition.  

At any level, it is rare to receive a full ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP, meaning that many student-athletes receive a scholarship package:  academic money, institutional aid, and athletic money. Many times, that package does not cover all college expenses.   

Daytona State has not raised tuition rates over the last nine years. The average tuition cost per year at Daytona State is $3,072 for Florida Residents taking 30 credit hours. The average in-state tuition cost per year at a public four-year institution in the state of Florida is $9,970.00. Over the first two years of a student's college degree, the difference in savings is a substantial $13,796.   

In addition to being affordable, our program and other junior college programs in Florida can offer up to 18 renewable scholarships. Each institution individually determines the amount of aid they are going to commit to their athletic programs. However, only 18 players on each team in Florida can receive athletic aid.  Unlike NCAA or NAIA programs, we are unable to create scholarship packages for more than 18 players on our roster. Within NCAA or NAIA programs, all players on a roster could receive some amount of athletic aid.   

Why Choose Us First - Academic Support and Success 

Academics play a large part in our player's abilities to move on to the next level. As most four-year programs look to create scholarship packages, we highly emphasize academic success. Maintaining a high GPA is an attractive feature during the recruiting process as it enables coaches to stretch their limited athletic scholarship budgets further.  

Daytona State has five different campuses and over 15,000 students that are actively engaged.  Yet, we are still able to provide a student-teacher ratio of 26:1. Faculty on campus are committed to student success and hold weekly office hours, lead group tutoring sessions and engage digitally with students daily. Students are supported and encouraged across all school platforms. On the main Daytona Beach campus, we have two academic support centers that are staffed with full-time tutors, writing specialists, and professionals to assist across all areas of study. The academic support centers are available for in-person meetings, digital tutoring and offer a plethora of online assistance to students. Further, the library is also fully staffed and available to students both on-campus and remotely via online tools. The school is fully committed to academic success and our students have a large number of resources at their disposal.   

Over the last four years, our team has averaged a 3.41 team GPA.  Every year we have students recognized on the honor roll, FSCAA All-Academic Team, and multiple NJCAA Academic All Americans.  Our team is consistently recognized as one of the top 20 programs academically within the NJCAA and this is a direct result of the resources available to our students and their commitment to excellence in the classroom.   

Why Choose Us First - Exposure to Four Year Programs 

Our main objective with our players is to help them continue their academic and athletic careers at the next level.  Our school has provided us with the means, staff, and facilities to adequately prepare our athletes to be impactful at their next institution.  As a result, we have had a great deal of success at placing players at the next level.  

In order to promote our players, we have a recruiting website: www.dscwsoccer.com where we promote our players with individual player profiles, highlight videos, and full game film. My staff and I are in constant contact with four-year coaches and actively promote and recommend our players to programs we feel they can positively impact.  Coaches are always welcome to watch our training sessions, games, and webstreams. Many join us throughout different points of the year to be able to speak with our players in person.   

The success of our program over the last four years on the field as well as in the classroom has enabled us to consistently create opportunities for players within our program to continue playing at the next level.  The ability of our alumni to positively impact programs has created opportunities for all those who come behind them due to our positive reputation for preparing players to compete and succeed academically.    

By: Brittany Jones Head Women's Soccer Coach

Photo by Aldrin Capulong courtesy of Daytona State College

Sources:  Daytonastate.edu, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES.org), njcaa.org