Use Sport Scholarship to Pay for College

If you’re an outstanding high school athlete and have a fairly high academic GPA, chances are you may qualify for an athletic scholarship to help pay for your university education. Athletic scholarships are highly coveted as a form of college financial aid. However, these funds are limited and competition for these scholarships is high. If you feel you have a chance for a sport scholarship, you should discuss your options with your high school counselor before the end of your senior year.

Sports scholarships are funded from three main sources: the National Collegiate Athletic Association, i.e. NCAA; the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, NAIA and the National Junior College Athletic Association, NJCAA. Of the three, the NCAA is the most prominent.

Types of Athletic Scholarships

Athletic scholarships can be divided into five types:

• Full Ride — covers a 4 year college education
• One Year Renewable Scholarship — covers one year of college, with the option of being renewed if the student meets scholarship conditions
• One Year Trial Grant — can be a full or partial scholarship, with the option of being renewed if the student meets the agreed upon criterion academically and athletically.
• Partial Scholarship — provides partial payment of a student’s college expenses, such as enough to cover books or tuition or room and board, etc.
• Out of State Fee Waiver — allows non-resident students to pay the same tuition and fees as students who are residents of the state

To receive an athletic scholarship, you have to excel in the sport you play as well as have a decent grade point average. If you have excellent athletic ability and a high academic standing, you have a better chance of being chosen for one of these awards. For those who qualify, sports scholarships can fill a great need for college financial aid. By contacting the financial aid office of the institution you want to attend, you can find out more about athletic scholarships and their qualifications. 

Not all sports are included in the scholarship fund. In like manner, not all institutions offer scholarships for the same sport. Some of the most common sports you can receive scholarships for are: basketball, football, soccer, golf, tennis, volleyball, wrestling, hockey, cross country and skiing.

What Do Scholarships Cover?

A full ride scholarship will cover complete costs of a student’s 4-5 year college education. This includes tuition, room and board, books and administrative fees. With a full ride scholarship, your education is virtually free, enabling you to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree "debt free." Competition for this type of scholarship is extremely high with the criterion being based 70% on athletic ability and 30% academics, work ethics, character, etc.

Full ride scholarships are mostly given to students engaging in "head count" sports, i.e. sports that generate revenues for the institution offering the scholarship. Revenue sports for men are generally football and basketball while women’s revenue sports include basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and tennis.

Non-revenue sports are known as "equivalency" or "Olympic" sports. It is possible for a student engaging in an equivalency sport to receive a full ride scholarship. However, more often than not, college coaches divide these funds into allotments and distribute them as partial scholarships among a number of different athletes playing on their sports teams. With these funds, students pay for a part of their college expenses.

It is not uncommon for equivalency scholarships to be divided unevenly with a greater amount of funds being given to students with greater athletic ability and skill. Out of state athletes may also receive preference to help them pay for the cost of higher tuition and fees.

Sports scholarships are not the only form of financial aid for your university education. However, a scholarship can be a tremendous asset for skilled athletes in helping them pay for the cost of their college degree.

Author Bio
Steven Doumet is a writer who creates informative articles relating to the field of athletics. In this article, he describes sport scholarships in relation to university finances and aims to encourage further study through OU athletic administration graduate programs online.