USA Sports Scholarship

USA Sports Scholarships (2021)

External Scholarships Scholarships in United States

Many potential athletes are faced with a pressing problem as their high school graduation comes closer and closer. Should I quit athletics and just study for standardized tests, or should I quit academics for the sake of playing sports? In order to provide answers for students who are faced with this dilemma, I am here to tell you that you have one more option.

I know many colleges out there do require high standardized test scores for most students, and student-athletes are a special exception. Instead of requiring a high standardized test score and a high cumulative GPA, the USA Sports Association have normal academic requirements that are not too hard to accomplish with proper planning.

Since athletes have to focus on their training and their academics at the same time, students who want to become a student-athlete must focus on their goal and make sacrifices throughout the way. As I have said, you might need to focus on your responsibilities instead of having fun, and you might have to give up time spent on Netflix, Social Media, and Video Games in order to focus on your future career.

On the other hand, I am not saying that having fun is bad; however, if having fun comes first instead of your responsibilities, then you are losing focus. The eligibility requirements are set, and they can be easy for some and hard for others. So, pay attention to the eligibility requirements since you need to fulfill the requirements in order to be eligible for a sports scholarship.


Different Divisions of USA Sports

In the United States, the intercollegiate (college) sports divide into three main divisions, and they are Division I, Division II, and Division III. Supported by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), many colleges and institutions are mainly sorted into these three divisions by the size of the student body and the amount of sports funding.

I know that there are many more factors that go into whether a college goes into a particular sports division, but we are going to focus on the two most important factors of each division. For example, a college in NCAA (Division I) will have a higher number of student-athletes and even a great amount of funding that is available for the sports department.

Great amount of funding means more full-ride athletic scholarships for prospective students; however, an institution in Division II or III will have a lower number of student-athletes, and it will have a limited amount of full-ride scholarships and partial scholarships for their prospective applicants.

For current, former, and future international students athletes, you can view your information in the following links: Current Student-Athlete, Former Student-Athlete, or Future International Student-Athlete. For future student-athletes, continue to read the section down below for your information!


1. Eligibility Requirements of NCAA Division I

The members of NCAA Division I are generally comprised of institutions with the largest student body that are backed by generous funds, and they can give out many athletic scholarships due to their big budget. Since NCAA Division I Colleges are some of the largest universities in the United States, the student-athletes are provided with great academic and athletic opportunities.

This is where the importance of academics kicks in. Since student-athletes are required to maintain a certain GPA standard, they have to do well in academics while balancing their sports career. Since the majority of student-athletes receive some sort of scholarship in NCAA Division I, it is vital to keep up your grades while playing your sport.

This is going to be hard, but you are going to have great benefits. If you are a great athlete and get into NCAA Division I, you get a free ticket to a college education, and you can also continue to do sports as a hobby or something that you can pursue as a professional.

Also, there is a set of eligibility requirements in order to get into NCAA Division I. In addition to a set guideline for high school students, the NCAA homepage has all the information that a prospective student might need! Make sure to visit the link below if you are confident in your athletic and academic ability.

If you want to be eligible to compete in your first year of college, you must meet ALL of the eligibility requirements; however, if you don’t meet the eligibility requirements, NCAA offers helpful information on which actions to take.

Academic Eligibility Requirements of NCAA Division I:

  1. Complete 16 Core Courses (Specifics Included)
    • Four Years of English
    • Three Years of Math
    • Two Years of Natural / Physical Science
    • One Additional Year of English, Math, or Natural/Physical Science
    • Two Years of Social Science
    • Four Additional Years of English, Math, Natural/Physical Science, Social Science, Foreign Language, Comparative Religion, or Philosophy
  2. Complete 10* of the 16 Core Courses Before the Start of Your Senior Year
  3. Maintained at least 2.3 High School GPA on Your Core Classes
  4. Scored at least a certain amount** on the SAT or ACT

*Of the ten core courses, seven of them needs to include English, Math, or Natural/Physical Science. After you have started your senior year, you cannot retake the ten core courses that you have already took to improve your GPA.

**NCAA has a sliding scale in which students can use to match the needed standardized test scores based on your high school GPA. For example, if you have a low GPA, you need a high standardized test score in order to be eligible and vice versa.

Scholarship Amount: Full-Ride Scholarships or Partial Scholarship

NCAA offers many types of scholarships to prospective student-athletes, which means students who fill important positions in their team. Since Division I has the highest emphasis on sports, Division I institutions give out many full-ride scholarships and even provide funding for masters and Ph.D. for some students. If you are still interested, visit NCAA Scholarships.

All the specific eligibility requirements came from the NCAA website called Playing Division I Sports.


2. Eligibility Requirements (NCAA Division II)

One thing that you need to keep in mind is that all three division of NCAA focuses on academic excellence and athletics for all participating student-athletes. One key difference is that members of NCAA Division II have a lower budget dedicated to sports than the institutions of NCAA Division I.

This means that the values and numbers of athletic scholarships of NCAA Division II are lower than NCAA Division I; however, Division II is the only division that contains schools in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Also, to cover for the lower amount of full-ride scholarships, many partial scholarships are given to prospective athletes of NCAA Division II.

The eligibility requirements of NCAA Division II are very similar to those of NCAA Division I, but they are slightly easier on the applicants of NCAA Division II since the required academic load is lowered. In addition to the eligibility requirements, NCAA also included detailed guideline from what you should do during high school years.

Academic Eligibility Requirements of NCAA Division II:

  1. Complete 16 Core Courses
    • Three Years of English
    • Two Years of Math
    • Two Years of Natural/Physical Science
    • Three Additional Years of English, Math or Physical Science
    • Two Years of Social Science
    • Four Additional Years of English, Math, Natural/Physical Science, Social Science, Foreign Language, Comparative Religion, or Philosophy
  2. Maintained at least 2.2 High School GPA on Your Core Classes
  3. Using the NCAA Sliding Scale, Have a Minimum Score on the SAT or ACT

For students who want to make it into NCAA Division II, they must meet all the academic requirements in order to be eligible; however, for students that do not meet the academic requirements, they can still look at the NCAA Division II homepage for details concerning students that do not meet the eligibility requirements.

To View the Eligibility Requirements, Visit NCAA II Sports.


3. NCAA Division III

As you can see, I didn’t put eligibility requirements in the title since NCAA Division III does not offer athletic scholarships. Since Division III institutions do not emphasize athletics very much, student-athletes receive merit or need-based financial aid instead of athletic scholarships.

For NCAA Division I and Division II, there are many scheduling conflicts that occur between sports (competitions and conferences) and academics (tests and exams); however, Division III schools prioritize academics over sports. Minimizing the conflicts between academics and athletics, Division III colleges still offer a competitive environment through its sports teams.

Since NCAA Division III does not offer athletic scholarships, Division III Schools set their own eligibility requirements.


Conclusion: Playing Any Sports?

NCAA Division I and Division II list many different types of sports that you can play for fun and for competition. Listing over 24 different kinds of sports, NCAA administers many championships and scholarships for prospective sports teams and student-athletes. Make sure to visit the link down below if you are interested in any sports!

For NCAA Division I, Click Here.

For NCAA Division II, Click Here.

For More Scholarship Posts, Click Here.