Posted on: Thursday, April 10, 2008
Athletic scholarships not all they're cracked up to be
By Fred Bowen
Special to The Washington Post
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The Memphis Tigers played the Kansas Jayhawks on Monday in the NCAA college basketball tournament. The NCAA limits the number of players on a college team who can be on scholarships.
CHARLIE NEIBERGALL | Associated Press
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Lots of kids — and their parents — dream of receiving athletic scholarships to college and playing in big-time games. They think it's a great way to play a sport and get a free education.
But the realities of college athletic scholarships might surprise you.
Not many students get athletic scholarships. In some of the most popular sports — football, basketball, track and field, baseball and softball — only one or two of every 100 kids who play the sport in high school receive scholarship money to continue playing in college. So if you are a fifth-grader who loves basketball, your chances of getting a college scholarship are not very good.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association limits the number of athletic scholarships. Not everyone on a college team has one. For example, the NCAA limits the number of scholarships on a Division I men's soccer team to 9.9 per team. Most men's college soccer teams have 25 to 30 players. What's more, lots of colleges do not offer all of the scholarships allowed by the NCAA.
Most students do not receive full athletic scholarships. College is expensive: Many private colleges cost more than $40,000 a year, and some state schools cost more than $20,000. According to NCAA statistics, the average athletic scholarship is a little more than $10,000 a year. If you eliminate the big, money-making sports of football and basketball, the average scholarship is about $8,000 a year.
Athletes work hard for their scholarship aid. They must attend practices, games, weight-lifting sessions and team meetings in addition to their classes. Many athletes spend at least four hours a day on their sport. College athletics is so demanding that coaches say that about 15 percent of athletes with scholarships give them back.
So should you give up your dream of winning a scholarship and being a college athlete? No. But if you play sports, it should be because you love the games, not because there might be a money payoff.
Also remember that good students have a much better chance of receiving money for college than good athletes do. So aim to be a student-athlete and not just a jock.
