Scholarships

What is an athletic scholarship?

You really want an athletic scholarship, but do you really know what one is? Some people use the term scholarship when referring to any college financial aid but this is incorrect.

An athletic scholarship usually comes in the form of a grant in aid from a particular school source. A grant is money that is typically awarded to individuals in return for competing on a school's athletic team and does not have to be paid back. Awards can range from as little as $250 to as much as $30,000 or higher.

Athletic scholarships are sometimes on a year-to-year basis, but for the most part, are good for all four years of your education.

Make sure the terms of any athletic scholarship package are spelled out to you clearly in advance before you accept it.

What is a full ride scholarship?

Full ride scholarships cover 100% of tuition, board, class fees and books as opposed to partial scholarships which only cover a portion of your enrollment costs at college.

Are scholarships guaranteed?

Scholarships are not guaranteed for four years, but are typically renewed each year. Some schools will verbally guarantee them for all 4+ years you are at the school. If coaches at bigger schools with well-known reputations started revoking scholarships of players because they didn't play well after a year, those coaches would never be able to sign another recruit. A Division I or Division II institution must inform you in writing by July 1^st whether your grant for the upcoming year has been renewed. If your scholarship is not renewed, you can request a hearing with school officials outside of the athletic department. We haven't come across any cases of scholarships not being renewed because of poor athletic performance, and a school doing this to even one recruit would probably harm their recruiting efforts. However, it can happen when new coaches are hired.

Can scholarships be taken away?

Under the following conditions, your scholarship can be removed:

• You become ineligible for intercollegiate competition.
• You fraudulently misrepresent info on an application, Letter of Intent or financial aid agreement.
• Engage in conduct warranting substantial disciplinary penalty.
• Voluntarily withdraw from your sport on your own. Remember - when you accept a scholarship, you cannot quit the team and expect a free education. If you cannot afford school, it may be your only chance to get a college education, but fulfilling your obligations to a coach and program may actually cause your education to suffer. The irony is worth mentioning.

Don't assume a school has scholarships available or no scholarships available. It's important to ask each individual coach what is available at that particular institution. If the coach thinks you are interested in coming to the school and you don't ask for scholarship money, they might not offer it.

Are there other non-scholarship options?

Yes, there are grants, non-athletic scholarships - and financial aid. It's probable that you will find more financial aid money at a particular school than athletic scholarship money. NCAA Division III doesn't offer athletic scholarships, but you might be surprised how generous some schools are able to make your financial aid package. This is especially true for schools with institutional aid, (aid that is disbursed after federal monies are awarded). The criteria for institutional aid are strictly up to the school. For example, some wealthy alumni might have endowed the school with a scholarship for a student athlete who overcame extreme hardship to excel and move on to college. The winner of that scholarship has a full ride, but it's not an athletic scholarship. One football coach who used to work at a Division III school in Ohio told us that it was routine for teams in their conference to take the aid offer that a rival school gave to a top recruit, and say to the folks in financial aid, "come on, we need to win here, what can you do for us" and a lot of times they were able to match the rivals package. This isn't supposed to go on, and it doesn't at all schools, but it happens.

Are athletic scholarships awarded differently between the three major athletic associations?

Nearly all colleges and universities that sponsor sports programs belong to one of three major athletic associations:

• National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
• National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA)

The NCAA has three divisions:

• Division I (DI) is considered the top college sporting level
• Division II (DII) ranks below Division I and usually offers a lesser number of scholarships
• Division III (DIII) does not have athletic scholarships, but other forms of financial aid exist including academic scholarships

NAIA Scholarships

On April 1, 2003, Concordia College (CA) def. Mountain State (W.Va.) 88-84 to win the NAIA Division I men's basketball championship. How many of you knew that? Probably less than the number of people who know that Syracuse won the NCAA basketball championship the same year. What is the point? The point is that the NAIA has plenty of good programs, talented athletes, excellent coaches, and they do have championships!

The majority of NAIA schools are in the South, Midwest and far West portion of the U.S., but there are a few in most states. There are roughly 330 NAIA schools overall. In general, NAIA schools are small, private institutions, and athletics are competitive, but are not afforded a large budget like many NCAA schools. At the NAIA Division I level, there are 11 basketball scholarships offered. At the NAIA Division II level, there are 6 basketball scholarships offered. This is assuming that a particular school offers that many.

Division III Athletics

While Division III colleges cannot offer athletic scholarships (they are not allowed) many Division III programs offer far superior academic programs to Division I or Division II colleges and offer far more financial aid than you might find at a Division I or Division II college. As we stated earlier, many families and players dismiss Division III programs because they are so focused on getting an athletic scholarship, rather than focused on finding the college that provides them the best fit for their skills and desires. Since there are not that many scholarship opportunities in basketball and it takes a high degree of skill to play at the Division I level, many of you would be best served by finding other programs where your skills would be a better fit and will offer you a chance to play college basketball. There are many amazing programs out there and you need to work hard at finding a program that is a good match for your skills and desires.

The NAIA is divided into two divisions. In general, Division 1 schools can offer more sports scholarships than the Division 2 schools.

The NJCAA is comprised of "two-year" colleges and is separated into 3 divisions. NJCAA Division I colleges may offer athletes a full athletic scholarship while Division II colleges may only offer partial scholarships that cover tuition, fees and books. Division III colleges cannot offer any scholarships.