Athletes are competitive by nature and not everyone will be awarded a scholarship. These college funds are perhaps some of the hardest and most competitive.

• You must excel in a sport. And not just any sport, but one that has open scholarships.
• Then you have to possess the drive to pursue a scholarship, because if you do not, then a team-mate or staunch competitor will.
• Finally, you must agree to perform once you arrive on campus, both academically as well as athletically.

If an NCAA scholarship seems out of reach you may want to try the NJCAA.

NCAA

The NCAA is the governing body for most college sports. Colleges and universities are separated into divisions dependent on certain criteria: Division I, II, or III.

Division I and II schools maintain competitive, mid to large-sized sports teams with the goal of attracting top talent. Division III schools are required to maintain much fewer athletic teams, and are usually much smaller student bodies. NCAA does not give out athletic scholarships for Division III schools.

The NCAA maintains an long list of athletic scholarships. They are separated into categories, such as Undergraduate, Post-Graduate, and then further by Division.

Women Athletes

Before Title IX, women not taken seriously in athletics. However, today women’s sports programs are opening up with more and more opportunities. Women are now participating in ice hockey and gold, sports that were decidedly male. Many women and minority athletes may qualify for the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women’s Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship Program.

There are many less popular sports that are not as competitive for scholarship. You should contact the athletic department or the financial aid office. Some of these sports consist of Bowling, Field Hockey and Rowing.

Paid Recruiting Services

For the athlete seriously looking for a good athletic scholarship, there are a couple of ways to go about it.

• You could do it the “old-fashioned” way and be recruited by a college coach.
• You could pay one of a zillion recruiting services to do it for you.

The main idea behind the scholarship recruiting services is pretty much the same as the traditional scholarship hunting — to promote you, but some of the services collect your money and never intend to deliver results. You need to be careful not to get burned by scholarship scams. Make sure you research such services or talk to a friend who recommends the service.

You should not have to pay anyone to promote you if you are a top talent. Your reputation will precede you! College coaches are in the business to know names and stats of the best candidates. You may also want your coach to make some phone calls.

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List of College Sports

These sports are regularly awarded scholarships:

• Baseball
• Bowling

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List of Non-College Sports that offer Scholarships

These sports are not offered in college but scholarships do exist: