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NCAA estimates</a> that at DI schools, 59% of athletes receive athletics aid and at DII schools, 62% receive some form of athletics aid. DIII schools don’t and can’t offer athletic scholarships. However, if you attend a DIII school as a student-athlete, you can get scholarship money through other avenues. Eighty percent of DIII student-athletes are awarded academic or need-based aid. It averages out to around $17,000.</p>
<h3>3. There Are Rules</h3>
<p>College coaches must abide by strict NCAA rules regarding recruiting. The main one is this: coaches cannot contact high school students prior to September 1 of the student’s junior year. So, if you attend a sports showcase event freshmen or sophomore year, coaches cannot talk to you. However, they can talk to your club coach or high school coach and have them relay a message to you. Keep that in mind as you work through the college recruiting process.</p>
<h3>4. Introduce Yourself to Coaches</h3>
<p>Roughly 7.3 million students play a high school sport. College recruiters and coaches can’t possibly keep tabs on every promising student. Before or during your sophomore year of high school, send an introduction email to coaches at colleges that you’re interested in. Keep the email simple yet informative. Include your name, sport, primary position, sports awards and statistics, year of high school graduation, and coach’s name and contact information. Don’t forget the link to your highlight reel!</p>
<h3>5. Create a Highlight Reel</h3>
<p>Put together a two- to three-minute long highlight reel. Don’t worry about having it professionally edited. Just make sure the coach can see you clearly. Instead of mailing in a DVD copy, upload the video to YouTube and send it to college coaches in your introduction email.</p>
<h3>6. Know the Head Count Sports</h3>
<p>Head count sports are the best sports for college scholarships. They’re the sports that make colleges money. They include men’s football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s gymnastics, women’s volleyball, and women’s tennis. Anyone who plays one of these sports at a DI college receives a full-ride sports scholarship. There are no partial athletics scholarships for these sports.</p>
<h3>7. Know the Equivalency Sports</h3>
<p>Equivalency sports have different NCAA scholarship rules. Coaches get a set amount of scholarship dollars that they can allocate as they wish. For example, a team with 25 students might have 3 full ride sports scholarship recipients, 15 partial scholarship recipients, and eight walk-ons (i.e. no scholarship). The main downside to equivalency sports is that the scholarships are worth a lot less. Equivalency sports are all DI sports aside from the head count sports, all NCAA DII sports, all NAIA sports, and all Junior Colleges sports.</p>
<h3>8. The Money Isn’t that Great</h3>
<p>Aside from the head count sports, most college athletics scholarships don’t amount to much. The average scholarship is just $11,000. While this might seem like a lot at first glance, its worth really depends on how expensive the college is. In many cases, a non-athletics scholarship at a DIII school amounts to much more.</p>
<h3>9. Scholarships Don’t Always Last</h3>
<p>Any scholarship you can get to make college more affordable is great. But, scholarships for college athletes, even full-rides, aren’t all set in stone. Student-athletes must renew their sports scholarship annually. Injury, a slip in grades, or a new coach could jeopardize your money. Keep this in mind as you choose a school. Make sure you’d still want to attend if you couldn’t play sports and that you could find a way to afford it if your scholarship went away.</p>
<h3>10. The Odds are Slim</h3>
<p>Not every talented athlete will graduate high school with a college sports scholarship. There’s only so much money to go around. In fact, the NCAA reports that only <a href=https://plexuss.com/n/"https://on.ncaa.com/1U19CIX">2% of high school athletes receive athletic scholarships. You have a much better chance at getting merit-based aid.</p>
<h3>11. Consider Joining Next College Student-Athlete</h3>
<p><a href=https://plexuss.com/n/"https://www.ncsasports.org/">Next College Student Athlete</a> connects college-bound high school athletes with more than 35,000 college coaches in the U.S. Join their recruiting network to see how they can help you navigate the college recruiting process and achieve your goal of becoming a college athlete. On their website, you can create a recruiting profile, access up-to-date information, and learn about student-athlete scholarship opportunities. You can connect with sports recruiters and explore your options on their site too.</p></div>"/>
