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What you need to know about applying for an athletic scholarship.
US university athletic associations
Most colleges and universities with athletic programmes come under one
of three major athletic organisations in the US:
- the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
- the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)
- the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
NCAA is the oldest and best-known collegiate sports organisation. It
divides colleges into three separate divisions for athletics:
- Division I includes the strongest teams and contains about
one-third of the NCAA's members. This is where you will find the big
athletic programmes, and the scholarship budgets at these schools can
be huge. You should be ranked in at least the top 10 in New Zealand
in your sport to have a chance of getting in.
- Division II schools maintain competitive athletic programmes,
although the squads are somewhat smaller and division II schools award
fewer scholarships each year
- Division III is very different to the other two divisions.
Under NCAA rules, Division III schools may not award financial aid on
the basis of athletic ability. They may only offer financial aid based
on need.
NAIA and NJCAA
Members of the NAIA and NJCAA are mainly smaller schools and do not recruit
as vigorously as NCAA members.
 NCAA
Initial -Eligibility Clearinghouse
Important! If you are planning to participate in NCAA Division I or Division
II athletics you must first be certified by the NCAA Initial-Eligibility
Clearinghouse.
Without certification from the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse
you will not be allowed to compete and you will be ineligible to receive
your athletic scholarship.
The Application for Foreign Student-Athletes, the NCAA Guide for the
College-bound Student Athlete, and the publication entitled Making
Sure you are Eligible to Participate in College Sports can all be
obtained directly from the Clearinghouse.
NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse
2255 N Dubuque Road
PO Box 4044
Iowa City, IA 52243-4044
Tel: 001 319 337 1492
Fax: 001 319 337 1556
www.ncaa.org
Facts about athletics scholarships
- sports scholarships are not available for graduate study.
- you need to satisfy academic requirements for the NCAA and you need
to meet all of the normal entrance requirements for the particular university
- many athletic scholarships do not cover your full costs, so it's a
good idea to check out other options and to have some money of your
own available
- athletic scholarships are usually awarded for one year at a time -
to ensure that your school will renew your scholarship, you will need
to maintain satisfactory academic progress
- you're not allowed to receive anything more than aid for the cost
of your education
- athletic scholarships can place you under enormous amounts of pressure
- coaches who offer you money will have high expectations about your
athletic performance
More on athletic scholarships
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