But, I don't think there's anything that would prevent a school from offering something like that to one of their outstanding students - as long as they can prove it was for academics and not for football. Apparently, Nash is an outstanding student (4.0 GPA + high ACT), so this wouldn't be an issue. I don't think it happens often, but sometimes a school will guarantee admission into certain post-grad programs as long as the student meets certain set academic thresholds (3.5 GPA or something like that). I believe we do this for Vet School at MSU (not sure about the tuition waiver though). I guess nothing would keep a school from waiving the tuition for someone they really want to keep at Vandy should they prove to be an accomplished college student as well. He's very lucky if this is the case and is pretty surprising to me that he would turn down something like that - assuming what I described is accurate.
It sounds strangeto think a school like Vandy would make such a lucrative offer like that when so many things can happen during college. But, schools like Vanderbilt love their own people. If you can swing a 3.5 there, then to them, you are obviously qualified to go anywhere in the country you want for med school, so why not keep them at Vandy? It's good for the University's ego and lessens the risk they have to "pollute" their med school classes with someone that doesn't look good on paper.