How to Score an Athletic Scholarship

The average high school student starts thinking about college sometime in his or her junior year. There are tests to take, credits to figure out, transcripts to get copied, letters to write, college brochures to read - and, if a scholarship is in the cards, for either financial need or academic achievement or both, a whole other box full of paperwork to complete. If the student is a gifted athlete, however, he or she has probably been figuring out how to score an athletic scholarship since eighth or ninth grade, or even longer.

It’s no secret that athletic scholarships are highly competitive. Applying for athletic scholarships has been called "a world unto itself," but since the decisions are made and funds paid out by literally thousands of different colleges, it’s more like a "universe" than a single world.

Trying to land an athletic scholarship has been compared to "marketing yourself for a starring movie role," as one Web site offering scholarship help put it. But no matter what Internet, library or personal resource you turn to for assistance in navigating the often-confusing athletic scholarship waterways, you will most likely hear the same thing concerning the first step to take in learning how to score an athletic scholarship.

Check in with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It’s “square one” for all student athletes going to college, no matter what their ages or school status. Whether you’re starting your serious scholarship search in the ninth grade or eleventh, the steps are the same. It is up to you - and your family, coaches and other advisors - to calculate how long you need to be involved in this process. Get good advice.

The NCAA estimates the availability of athletic scholarship funds to be around $1 billion per year. Scholarships are paid by the colleges, although funds for undergraduates at the Division I and II schools are “partially funded through the NCAA membership revenue distribution.” (The NCAA's Division III schools don't give athletic scholarships, only academic ones.) In 2004, almost 130,000 student athletes were on full or partial athletic scholarships in the U.S.

So now that you know that there are scholarships available, what next? The general answer has been given to the general question, so it is time to get some specific answers to some specific questions. Next step: Narrow down the list of schools to the ones that you want to attend.

At this point, it may help to get some more advice and input from family, friends and coaches. You need to be realistic about what schools you can get into, the competitiveness of the particular sports program you want to be in and so forth. There is no reason to waste time trying to get into the USC football program if you are the third-ranked receiver on your team (out of three), but if you did well in a highly competitive high school program there may be smaller colleges interested in you. Be realistic and honest throughout the process.

Start contacting the financial aid offices of the school you want to go to, as they can tell you everything you need to know about awards, grants and scholarships at their respective institutions. Contact the sports programs and coaches as well. Have a plan, an organized approach, and stick to it.

Once you’ve confirmed the availability of scholarship money, the challenge is to find a way to get some of it. If you learn everything about the schools and the sports programs and the way that scholarships have been awarded to others, then you are well on your way to learning how to score an athletic scholarship for yourself.

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