A Snapshot Into One NAIA Program’s Scholarships.

As you contemplate whether you will get a “full ride” scholarship, take a peak behind the scenes of an actual team.

What are your odds to play in college? What are the odds you will receive an athletic scholarship?

Enjoy this peak behind the scenes. On Thursday, I have another amazing interview you won’t want to miss. It is with an NAIA coach who is currently riding an 18 game win streak. Don’t miss out on his advice on finding the right college fit for you!

Six Percent

Six percent of all high school athletes will play collegiately. Even fewer are awarded any form of athletic financial aid. The percentage of high school athletes who play collegiately and are awarded athletic financial aid drops to just two percent. This includes the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA.

For scholarships, most college sports are called Equivalency sports. Football and basketball are exceptions. There are a couple of other exceptions as well. Equivalency sports are those sports in which the coaches have a certain dollar amount that can be split among multiple athletes in any proportion they choose. What does this actually mean? Well, it means a full scholarship is rare. It is in the coach’s best interest to get as many high caliber athletes as possible and so the pot is divided.

Most NAIA schools give out some athletic scholarships. The amount, however, varies by institution and sport. (Read more about the NAIA in the post What is the NAIA?)

Scholarship Amounts

Would you like to see the cover pulled back on a typical roster to see what the players were actually receiving per year in athletic scholarships? The information provided here is from my women’s soccer team during the course of one year.

I had 23 players on the roster. My budget for scholarships per year was $49,000. I have included the full list for you:

2 Seniors: $6420, $6420

6 Juniors: $0, $0, $1000, $2000, $4000, $4000

10 Sophomores: $0, $0, $750, $1250, $1500, $1500, $1500, $2000, $2500, $8500

5 Freshmen: $0, $500, $750, $1500, $2000

Total: 23 players receiving $48,290, for an average per year scholarship of $2100 per player.

You can see, there were five players who received nothing. There were a total of nine players who received $1000 or less per year. As a side note, my best player was a Junior receiving $4000.

This was a private institution. Tuition, room and board were close to $30,000. How far did these athletic scholarships go toward paying for school? The players who could afford school with few loans were those with good academics.

The real money is most often in academics, not in athletic scholarships.

Next, take a look at The Final Price is What Really Matters.

 

Take Responsibility,

Bryan Drotar