Athletic Scholarships

Many high school athletes dream of going to college on an athletic scholarship. More than 500 colleges offer sports scholarships to athletes and over 100,000 student-athletes receive full and partial athletic scholarships. An estimated $1 billion in athletic scholarships are awarded each year.

If you are a college-bound student athlete and your sport is Baseball, Basketball, Cross County, Fencing, Field Hockey, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Rowing, Skiing, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, Water Polo, Wrestling, or another college-level sport, an athletic scholarship may be in your future.

Athletic scholarships are highly competitive, and can be time-consuming to pursue. While your chance for a full-scholarship at a Division 1 school might be remote, it's not a good reason to count yourself out. The truth is, your efforts may result in partial scholarship, the opportunity to play at the varsity level along with a quality education. You don't have to be the ultimate athlete or a straight A student to win an athletic scholarships. However, you do have to apply!

Unless you are an extraordinary student-athlete, it’s unlikely that the best college opportunities will find you. If you are interested in being recruited to play at the college level, it makes sense for you to prepare an athletic resume and to contact college coaches and/or register with one of the athletic recruiting services.

If you are a serious high school athlete (or the parent of one) who is interested in playing at the college level, you first stop should be to learn about the NCAA (The National Collegiate Athletic Association) and its various policies and rules through which many colleges and universities govern their athletics programs.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

The NCAA web site is the best place to start. In addition to finding the requisite forms, you can learn the difference between Divisions I, II and III and find out about eligibility, rules, timelines  and many other topics. High school student-athletes and their parents should read the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athletes which is available on the web site.  College Recruiting for Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)

The NAIA web site is another key Internet destination to visit. The NAIA covers 50,000 student-athletes participating at nearly 300 member colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. Divided into 25 conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.), the NAIA offers 23 championships in 13 sports.

Athletic Scholarship Statistics from the New York Times