How Can an Academic Scholarship Help Me Get an Athletic Scholarship?
While there are several steps to obtaining an athletic scholarship, the actual process though often misunderstood is not as difficult as you may think.
If you have half way decent grades and you’re an above average athlete you have an excellent chance of winning an athletic scholarship.
Complete the steps as outlined in this guide and utilize the various links to organizations and other resources, as you need them.
Scholarships are forms of financial aid. They may be either athletic or academic, and either partial or full scholarships. Some, called “full-ride”, provide for all expenses including tuition, books, board, room, equipment, uniforms, etc. Others provide for only one or two of your college expenses. Many provide for tuition only.
Scholarships are provided by a vast array of organizations, groups, schools, foundations, and individuals. This type of financial aid does not require repayment.
Click Here for resources on scholarships and financial aid.
A college education is usually the gateway to a successful future, but for most American families, it is also the largest single per child expense they will ever consider.
If you know that it will be a struggle for your family to provide for your college education, begin to search early in your junior year for the various types of financial aid that might be available to you. Also, you might qualify for one of the many scholarships that are awarded on merit or other certain criteria.
For Example, Wal-Mart provides a number of scholarships for children of Wal-Mart employees. If your GPA is high enough, it is very likely that you can qualify for some type of academic scholarship.
Seek the advice of your guidance counselor, but also check with some of your teachers, church and community leaders, your parents’ employers, and the library.
Sometimes, guidance counselors though well intentioned, are not knowledgeable on all the scholarships available. Very often, due to the large number of students they are assigned, they just don’t have the time to do an in-depth search for each student.
There are literally thousands of different types of scholarships requiring a variety of qualifications. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t immediately meet the qualifications for one. Just keep applying!
Many scholarships fail to be awarded simply because prospective students fail to apply. The main point to remember is that there is a lot of financial aid out there. Again, it is up to you to find it and apply for it. You should take charge of searching for and applying for these scholarships.
Please, for you own good, do not leave this very important matter in the hands of anyone else.
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOUR SENIOR YEAR TO START YOUR SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH!
Many of these scholarships are awarded early. If you do get an academic scholarship, you will increase your chances of receiving an athletic scholarship.
While it is illegal for NCAA coaches to call you or to return phone calls from you until July 1 of your senior year, you can call and contact them as many times as you like.
Use this rule to your advantage by contacting the coaches in your junior year. This is an opportunity for you to be pro-active in your recruiting game plan.
All NCAA Division I member schools offer athletic scholarships based on one-year awards that can be renewed on an annual basis up to five years and within a six-year period of time.
Renewal is not guaranteed and may be dependent upon meeting academic and athletic minimum requirements. The different types of scholarships and the terminology used when talking about them follow:
Full Athletic Scholarship or sometimes called a “Full Ride”: This type of scholarship covers all college expenses including books, tuition, and room and board (means and a dorm room). There are not many of these “full ride” scholarships available to incoming first year students.
Academic Scholarships can cover everything including tuition, books, and room, and board; or, it could provide for only a portion of these expenses.
In some states, if you score high enough on the ACT or SAT you may be eligible for a tuition scholarship paid for by the state. As we said before, there are literally thousands of different types of academic scholarships.
Get all of your scholarship research completed during your junior year so that you can be ready to apply at the beginning of your senior year. Develop a tracking sheet for when to apply for these scholarships. They will all have different deadlines. Avoid missing one by staying organized.
>>>Coaches will always try to stretch scholarship money as far as possible. For example, let’s say that you have maintained a good high school GPA and have also scored well on the SAT or ACT; in fact, you have scored well enough to qualify for an academic scholarship that will cover your tuition.
There are other athletes who have applied for the same athletic scholarship who do not have the high scores and GPA that you do. Knowing this, the coach has just narrowed his decision, and if all other things are equal, you will be awarded a partial athletic scholarship, which will pay all your expenses except your tuition.
Your academic scholarship combined with your partial athletic scholarship will essentially act as a “full ride” scholarship. Together they will provide for all your college expenses.>>> This situation is a no-brainer; the coach will choose you hands down, because he doesn’t have to spend as much of his budget in order to sign you. This is just one of many examples of why academics are so important.
Partial scholarships cover only a part of college expenses. Tuition may be covered, but not books, room but not board.
Athletic scholarships monies are usually limited; therefore, the coach divides the funds he has available. As in the example above, the idea is to use the athletic scholarship budget in a way that will get the most and best talent for the available money.
If you do receive a partial scholarship, you might need to consider and try securing other forms of financial aid.
In order to receive other forms of financial aid, you must complete a financial form known as the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid).
If you need financial aid, apply early. There are many, many academic grants, scholarships, and loans that go unclaimed each and every year. Click Financial Tips for more info.
Depending on certain coaches, budgets, and school policy some sports do not typically give incoming freshmen athletic scholarships.
Walk-On is a student/athlete who does not receive athletic aid. Walk-on opportunities are available at every level of play for every sport at every school.
There are preferred, invited, and uninvited walk-on situations. Walk-ons are treated differently from school to school. The best thing to do in this situation is ask the coach at the specific school you are attending and find out their policy regarding walk-ons.
A walk-on must successfully prove that he or she can perform at a level that will increase the success of the program. The walk-on is typically a person who has the ability and also the sincere desire to play collegiate sports, however, he lacks the required skill level.
Another example of a walk-on is an athlete that signed with another university and did not fulfill his or her obligation to that school; therefore the student-athlete would be ineligible to receive financial aid from any other school for a stipulated amount of time.
Many coaches actively recruit walk-ons to supplement their roster. A walk-on receives the same beneficial treatment that the scholarship athletes do including preferential registration status, class scheduling, and housing.
If you do walk-on, the potential is usually there to obtain financial aid after your freshman year providing you can prove to the coach that you are as good if not better than the scholarship players.
In-State vs. Out-of-State Tuition
Whether you are an in state or an out-of-state student-athlete makes a big difference in the cost of education. The state supported schools typically offer lower tuition cost to student-athletes who are residents of the state where the school is located.
Out-of-state tuition is often significantly more expensive than in-state tuition; and, of course it is more expensive to recruit an out-of-state athlete due to traveling cost, phone cost, etc.
So, if a coach has a limited budget and most of them do, he or she can get more bang for the buck by recruiting in-state student-athletes.
Remember, though, that some programs don’t have the financial resources to bring in athletes from out of state no matter how much they might want to get them to campus.
If you are interested in attending and playing for one of these schools, you will have to make it your business to travel to the school at your expense.
FAQ:
Can an academic scholarship help me get an Athletic Scholarship? Yes
What is Title IX? Basically, Title IX is the federal law that was passed and implemented to guarantee women the same financial and other benefits granted to men in college athletics.
Does Title IX take away from male athletes? No, however, most men’s athletic departments would argue that point. College football is excluded from Title IX, but all other college athletic programs are supposed to be treated equally.
If I am attending a university on an academic scholarship, how do I go about trying to join the team? Make an appointment with the coach and inform him/her of your desire to compete for the university.
After my first year of collegiate play, will my athletic scholarship automatically be renewed? Scholarships are one-year contracts. However, coaches don’t recruit athletes to keep them for only one year.
They have recruited you because they need your talent for their program. Your contract will most likely be renewed from year to year unless you don’t measure up to what the coach thought you would. If you keep your nose clean, keep your GPA acceptable, and play to your potential you should be fine.
Chapter 1|Chapter 2|Chapter 3
Chapter 10|College Sports Recruiting
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