It's time to start applying for schools and begin your recruiting process. You have been working hard on and off the field, and believe you could earn an athletic scholarship to further your playing career. However, you are not sure how many scholarships your sport offers or if they offer athletic scholarships at all.
When trying to earn an athletic scholarship for a college or university, many high schoolers misunderstand the amount of scholarship that each sport has. There is also a misconception of what sports offer scholarships asides from football and basketball.
This article will clear up all misconceptions that high schoolers may have about the types of Athletic Associations, the number of scholarships a sport has to offer, and the kinds of sports available in collegiate athletics.
Specific athletic association and division has a different amount of scholarships
Colleges and Universities are broken down into multiple athletic associations. There is the NCAA, NAIA, and NCJAA.
The NCAA stands for National College Athletic Association, is the most popular in terms of being known. It is split up into three Divisions, Division I, II, and III. The difference between a DI school compared to a DII or DII merely is just the size of the athletic department. Still, it is important to realize that a division III school do not offer athletic scholarships. If you play a sport at a DIII school, you will only earn a scholarship through academic funding.
NAIA stands for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. NAIA consist of smaller private institutions that have fewer compliance rules about international athletes. NAIA offers athletic and academic scholarships.
NJCAA is a collegiate association that stands for the National Junior College Athletic Association. The NJCAA complies of two-year community colleges. These colleges have little to no academic scholarships and are cheaper to attend. The NJCAA is an excellent way to go to college for cheap to continue excelling in your sport while attempting to get seen by colleges at larger institutions. NJCAA offers athletic scholarship, but it will not be as much because the overall tuition price is lower.
As mentioned, each association has its amounts of scholarships for particular sports. Here is a list of the total number of scholarships each athletics association offers combining all of their sports, from Athletic Recruiting,
The amount of scholarship that each sport offers in the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA
Below will be a compiled list of all the sports that are available in college and the amount of scholarships that are offered at each specific athletic association. It is important to note that although these are the maximum amount of scholarships a sport provides, they may not have this many scholarships available at the time you apply. The reason for this is because somebody on the team might have one scholarship. Football, Men's Basketball, and Women's basketball are the only schools that will guarantee their amount of scholarships each year because they are considered fully funded programs.
Women's Archery
NCAA - Division I: 5, Division II: 5
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Women's Badminton
NCAA - Division I: 5, Division II: 5
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Baseball
NCAA - Division I: 11.7, Division II: 9
NAIA - Division I: 12
NJCAA - 24
Men's Basketball
NCAA - Division I: 13, Division II: 10
NAIA - Division I: 11, Division II: 6
NJCAA - 15
Women's Basketball
NCAA - Division I: 15, Division II: 10
NAIA - Division I: 11, Division II: 6
NJCAA - 15
Bowling (No bowling for Men in NCAA)
NCAA - Division I: 5, Division II: 5
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - 12 for both Men and Women
Cross Country/ Track
NCAA - Division I: 12.6, Division II: 12.6
NAIA - Division I: 20, Division II: 12.6
NJCAA - 24
Men's Fencing
NCAA - Division I: 4.5, Division II: 4.5
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Women's Fencing
NCAA - Division I: 5, Division II: 4.5
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Football
NCAA - Division I: 85, Division II: 36
NAIA - Division I: 24
NJCAA - 85
Field Hockey
NCAA - Division I: 12, Division II: 6.3
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Golf
NCAA - Division I:4.5 , Division II: 3.6
NAIA - Division I: 5
NJCAA - 8
Women's Golf
NCAA - Division I:6 , Division II: 5.4
NAIA - Division I: 5
NJCAA - 8
Men's Gymnastics
NCAA - Division I: 6.3, Division II: 5.4
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Women's Gymnastics
NCAA - Division I: 12, Division II: 6
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Men's Hockey
NCAA - Division I: 18, Division II: 13.5
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - 16
Women's Hockey
NCAA - Division I: 18, Division II: 18
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Men's Lacrosse
NCAA - Division I: 12.6, Division II: 10.8
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - 20
Women's Lacrosse
NCAA - Division I: 12, Division II: 9.9
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - 20
Rifle
NCAA - Division I: 11.7, Division II: 9
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Women's Rowing
NCAA - Division I: 3.6, Division II: 3.6
NAIA - Division I: 12
NJCAA - 24
Women's Rugby
NCAA - Division I: 12, Division II: N/A
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Men's Skiing
NCAA - Division I: 6.3, Division II: 6.3
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Women's Skiing
NCAA - Division I: 7, Division II: 6.3
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Men's Soccer
NCAA - Division I: 9.9, Division II: 9
NAIA - Division I: 12
NJCAA - 18
Women's Soccer
NCAA - Division I: 14, Division II: 9.9
NAIA - Division I: 12
NJCAA - 18
Softball
NCAA - Division I: 12, Division II: 7.2
NAIA - Division I: 10
NJCAA - 24
Men's Swimming
NCAA - Division I: 9.9, Division II: 8.1
NAIA - Division I: 8
NJCAA - 15
Women's Swimming
NCAA - Division I: 14, Division II: 8.1
NAIA - Division I: 8
NJCAA - 15
Synchronized Swimming
NCAA - Division I: 5, Division II: 5
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Women's Team Handball
NCAA - Division I: 10, Division II: 12
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Men's Tennis
NCAA - Division I: 4.5, Division II: 4.5
NAIA - Division I: 5
NJCAA - 9
Women's Tennis
NCAA - Division I: 8, Division II: 6
NAIA - Division I: 5
NJCAA - 9
Men's Volleyball
NCAA - Division I: 4.5, Division II: 4.5
NAIA - Division I: 8
NJCAA - 14
Women's Volleyball
NCAA - Division I: 12, Division II: 8
NAIA - Division I: 8
NJCAA - N/A
Men's Waterpolo
NCAA - Division I: 4.5, Division II: 4.5
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Women's Waterpolo
NCAA - Division I: 8, Division II: 8
NAIA - Division I: N/A
NJCAA - N/A
Wrestling
NCAA - Division I: 9.9, Division II: 9
NAIA - Division I: 8
NJCAA - 20
