There are over 540,000 varsity student-athletes in U.S. colleges and universities. They make up over 3% of the country's entire student body. In recent years, the annual investment by U.S. colleges in athletic scholarships has been a staggering $3 billion to $5 billion.
Many aspiring student-athletes believe that without an athletic scholarship, they won't be able to play college sports. However, most college athletes do not have scholarships. There are far more college athletes than scholarships available. The key to successfully applying for an athletic scholarship is finding a good fit between your abilities and the level of the college team. To compete for funding, you must be able to positively impact the team's results by winning points in intercollegiate competitions.
Athletic Scholarships
The number of scholarships that college coaches can offer is limited by NCAA regulations and available funding. Coaches can offer a full scholarship, also known as a "full ride," to one athlete or split it among several athletes. Be prepared to negotiate for a partial scholarship and position yourself well to make it as large as possible. Coaches can also decide whether to offer you an athletic scholarship for the full duration of your studies or in annual installments.
Division I full ride scholarshipsDivision I universities are required by NCAA regulations to offer only full ride scholarships in the following sports:
Men: American football, basketball
Women: tennis, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics
Non-Athletic Scholarships
Division III and Ivy League colleges do not offer athletic scholarships. However, once you are accepted, they make up for this by offering financial aid or need-based scholarships. You would still use your athletic ability to get accepted to your target college, so there is essentially little difference between the two.
Often, you can receive both athletic and non-athletic funding by combining a partial athletic scholarship with financial aid offered by the college. College Game Plan can help you navigate this process to achieve the best financial outcome.
The sooner you learn about available financing options, the better informed your college selection and decisions will be. To do so, you will need to speak with coaches and financial aid departments at colleges directly. Ask the coach if they will offer you an athletic scholarship and, if so, how much it will be for. Then, assess the offer and determine how much your family will need to supplement it. We will facilitate this process for you.