The NCAA awards more than $2 billion in athletics scholarships annually to more than 126,000
student-athletes. (ncaa.org)
Full scholarships cover including tuition and fees, room, board and required course-related books. Not all schools offer scholarships, and not every scholarship will be a full scholarship.
Multiyear Scholarship Rule:
As of February 2012, the NCAA voted to uphold the multiyear scholarship rule. This means that Division I schools will have the option to offer scholarships guaranteed for more than one year. Many athletic aid offers are still only offered for one year terms, however coaches have the OPTION to provide multi-year awards, this gives athletes an assurance that the coaches are committed to you, and that you will be able to complete your education in the case of changes such as injury, staff and coaching changes or athletic performance. You can read the NCAA resource on this rule at this link
There are two types of scholarships given, the first is for Head Count sports, and the second is for Equivalency sports.
Head Count Sports, are those in which the NCAA limits the total number of individuals that can receive athletic scholarships, but allows each player to receive up to a full scholarship. All athletes that receive scholarship in a head count sport will receive a full scholarship.
Equivalency Sports, are those in which the NCAA limits the total financial aid that a school can offer in a given sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. For example in the sport of Women’s Field Hockey, the limit is 12 scholarships in Division I, this means the team must divide twelve scholarships among the entire roster of athletes. If a team has 21 players those twelve scholarships will be divided up by the coach based on a variety of factors such as financial need, or skill level. In the case of equivalency sports an athlete will most likely receive a partial scholarship (often referred to as a percentage of the full value ie. 45% scholarship) Only the most highly regarded athletes will be offered a full scholarship, this is a rare case.
Keep in mind this NCAA regulation is the maximum number of scholarships, this doesn’t necessarily mean each school will have that number of scholarships available. If the athletic department does not have the funds available to fulfill all the scholarships then the school is considered partially funded, and will not have the full amount of scholarships available.
The following is an outline of the NCAA limits for all sports in Division I and II. Division III does not offer athletic aid, however coaches will work with prospective athletes to build a scholarship package based on academic awards and other available bursaries and loans.
Division 1 Scholarships
Head Count Sports
Sport | # of Scholarships |
1-A Football | 85 Overall (25 for first year only) |
1-AA Football | 63 equivalencies over up to 85 athletes (30 for first year) |
Men’s Basketball | 13 |
Women’s Basketball | 15 |
Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey | 18 over up to 30 athletes |
Women’s Gymnastics | 12 |
Women’s Tennis | 8 |
Women’s Volleyball | 12 |
Men’s Equivalency Sports
Sport | # of Scholarships |
Baseball | 11.7 |
Cross Country / Track and Field | 12.6 |
Fencing | 4.5 |
Golf | 4.5 |
Men’s Gymnastics | 6.3 |
Lacrosse | 12.6 |
Rifle | 3.6 |
Skiing | 6.3 |
Soccer | 9.9 |
Swimming | 9.9 |
Tennis | 4.5 |
Volleyball | 4.5 |
Water Polo | 4.5 |
Wrestling | 9.9 |
Women’s Equivalency Sports
Sport | # of Scholarships |
Archery | 5 |
Badminton | 5 |
Bowling | 5 |
Cross Country / Track and Field | 18 |
Equestrian | 15 |
Fencing | 5 |
Field Hockey | 12 |
Golf | 6 |
Lacrosse | 12 |
Rowing | 20 |
Skiing | 7 |
Soccer | 12 |
Softball | 12 |
Squash | 12 |
Swimming | 14 |
Synchronized Swimming | 5 |
Team Handball | 10 |
Water Polo | 8 |
Division 2 Scholarship Limits
Men’s Equivalency Sports
Sport | # of Scholarships |
Baseball | 9 |
Basketball | 10 |
Cross Country / Track and Field | 12.6 |
Fencing | 4.5 |
Football | 36 |
Golf | 3.6 |
Men’s Gymnastics | 5.4 |
Lacrosse | 10.8 |
Rifle | 3.6 |
Skiing | 6.3 |
Soccer | 6.3 |
Swimming | 8.1 |
Tennis | 4.5 |
Volleyball | 4.5 |
Water Polo | 4.5 |
Wrestling | 9.0 |
Women’s Equivalency Sports
Sport | # of Scholarships |
Archery | 9 |
Badminton | 10 |
Basketball | 10 |
Bowling | 5 |
Cross Country / Track and Field | 12.6 |
Equestrian | 15 |
Fencing | 4.5 |
Field Hockey | 6.3 |
Golf | 5.4 |
Gymnastics | 6 |
Ice Hockey | 18 |
Lacrosse | 9.9 |
Rowing | 20 |
Skiing | 6.3 |
Soccer | 9.9 |
Softball | 7.2 |
Squash | 9 |
Swimming and Diving | 8.1 |
Synchronized Swimming | 5 |
Team Handball | 12 |
Volleyball | 8 |
Water Polo | 8 |
Division 3 Scholarship Limits
Division 3 does not offer athletic scholarship. However, often coaches and admissions will put together a scholarship package based on need, academic aid and other bursaries.
Often, Division 3 institutions hand out just as much aid as the more prestigious D1 or D2 counterparts, however their aid is labeled as academic, leadership, need based, or various other types of scholarships. The moral of this story is don’t discount Division 3 schools because you don’t think you can afford them.
Check out our scholarship research links to find other supplemental scholarships to help with these costs.