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4 Year Guide:
Introduction | Freshman | Sophomore
| Junior | Senior
Getting into the right college with as much financial help as possible
comes with planning, research, and self-promotion. A winning game plan
combines hard work, athletic talent with athletic accomplishment, average
to better grades and test scores, and, knowing what to do when. While
emphasis may be on athletic skills, academic skills and test scores cannot
be ignored. They are musts for getting an athletic scholarship, especially
at NCAA Division I colleges. Each year, there are many very talented athletes
that don’t go on to college or find themselves at a junior college
not because colleges didn’t recruit them, but because their grades
and/or test scores were below par.
The Elite Athlete vs the Rest
The elite athlete probably won’t have to worry much about getting
an athletic scholarship, unless he/she really does not have the academic
and test scores for college entry. Their biggest problem might be deciding
on which school.
Other athletes need to decide on how important athletics is to their
college experience, what level of play they want in college and where
athletics fits into their future. Answer to those questions help to focus
efforts and will really improve chances for a scholarship because goals
may be more realistic. Sometimes athletes end up in a Division I school
with a partial scholarship or on the team as a walk on. But because the
athlete doesn't have the highest scoring potential may end up not participating
in big meets. If that would bother you, you might be better off in a lower
key athletic environment.
Start With Some Basics!
- There are three athletic organizations associations in the United
States that sponsor, organize and regulate college athletics: the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Junior College Athletic
Association (NJCAA). Colleges hold membership in only one association.
Unless otherwise stated these basics apply to the NCAA association colleges.
- For 2003-2004, the NCAA maximum allowed scholarships on cross country
and track teams for women is18 and for men, 12.6. However, the number
of scholarships that any college has available at any given time depends
on funding available at the college for scholarships, the number of
athletes on scholarship and the needs of the college track team. A college's
specific need might depend on which of their current athletes are graduating,
injured, or other factors.
- Athletic scholarships are limited. Using NCAA figures, during the
1998-99 year for Outdoor Track and Field in Divisions I and II, there
were 405 programs for men and 369 for women. That would mean a maximum
of 4,860 athletic scholarships available for men and 6,642 athletic
scholarships available for women. So that is a little more than 11,000
potential college scholarship slots, and there are more than 1,000,000
athletes on high school cross country and track teams during 2001-02.
Some percentage of the 1,000,000 are seniors and of those a smaller
percentage are interested and talented enough for a scholarship. Still,
the number seeking a scholarship are far more than scholarships available.
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Money for college sports, including scholarships, comes from a variety
of sources raised by the college and college support groups such as
booster clubs and alumni groups. Sports programs within a college
compete for the money. Usually, the majority of funds go to such sports
as football. Sometimes, colleges don't award the maximums because
the college does not have the money to support the entire program.
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Title IX of the Civil Rights Law may affect the number of scholarships
available. Title IX prohibits exclusion from participation in sports
based on gender. Efforts to make sure that women have equal opportunity
to participate in sports affects the number of scholarships, and the
number of sports offered at colleges. To keep the balance between
the budget and equity in sports for men and women some colleges: 1)
limit the number of scholarships for both men and women 2) limit scholarships
for men 3) drop some sports altogether 4) drop a men's program in
a sport. Title IX applies to all athletic associations.
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Athletic scholarships can be full or partial awards. Some colleges
break up scholarships into two or more scholarships and may combine
the partials with academic scholarships. For example, if a scholarship
at a given college is worth $12,000, a college could award 12 partial
scholarships of $1,000 each.
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Athletes may be on athletic or academic scholarship or a combination
of the two. Regardless of the kind of scholarship, an athlete on scholarship
is counted against the NCAA team scholarship limits.
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A scholarship athlete is counted against the limit for the four years
they are on the team. So, one slot may be filled for four years.
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In the NCAA, athletic scholarship offers and Letters of Intent are
signed during specific date periods as specified by the NCAA. The
signing periods for 2005-2006 are as follows:
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Initial Signing |
Final Signing |
Early Period
Late Period |
November 9, 2005
April 12, 2006 |
November 16, 2005
August 1, 2006 |
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Application for college is required for all scholarships. Applying
early is recommended. Applications for entry into the college and
academic scholarships, generally, need to be submitted no later than
December of the senior year of high school. Typically, by April, colleges
have awarded most if not all of their academic scholarships. By the
beginning of the late athletic scholarship signing period in April,
students generally know if they have been admitted to the colleges
they have applied to and if they have been awarded any academic scholarship.
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College admission is separate from the decision to award an athletic
scholarship. Being offered an athletic scholarship does not guarantee
entrance into the college.
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NCAA Division I colleges are not the only good place for college
track and field.
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NCAA Division II colleges have good programs.
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While NCAA Division III schools do not have athletic scholarships,
they have good programs and a variety of non-athletic financial assistance
available.
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NAIA colleges have a lot to offer. The NAIA offers maximum opportunity
to participate in regular season and championship meets; and fewer
recruiting restrictions.(See article NAIA schools on DyeStat Features
Page.)
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Athletes who are not interested in going to a 4 year college, want
training in a technical or trade area, or who need to build up a grade
point average, should consider the community or junior college. Many
community colleges have good academic and athletic programs and competitive
meets.
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Student Athletes may make unofficial visits to college campuses
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Athletic scholarships are generally renewed each year.
- College students are permitted to "walk on" the team. "Walk
On" athletes participate in track & field for the love of the
sport while paying for college with private funds or other kinds of
financial assistance. "Walk On" may sometimes earn a scholarship
after the first year.
Steps to Success!
Scholar-Athletes are all different. So the approach to college entry
and an athletic scholarship will be different depending on the talents,
credentials, hopes and desires of the athlete. The successful candidate
will be active in developing realistic goals, choosing a college, and
seeking both academic and athletic scholarships. The most accomplished
athletes will no doubt be sought after by many colleges; other athletes
may need to work harder to get noticed and earn a scholarship; but it
can be done.
4 Year Guide:
Introduction | Freshman | Sophomore
| Junior | Senior
Scholar-Athlete Guide by Donna Dye
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