Are you talented in sports and want to study in the USA? Then sports scholarships in the USA are an option for you. With a sports scholarship, you can finance your studies primarily through sports.
Sports scholarships do not provide for the payment of money, but represent a fee waiver for the following costs:
- tuition fee
- accommodation
- catering
Reasons for Sports Scholarships in the United States
Competitive sport in the USA is usually not organized in clubs or club leagues at the amateur level. Instead, it is based at American universities and colleges. That is why university sports in the USA have a completely different, namely more important, significance than in Germany.
The mostly highly professional sports teams are the figureheads of the respective universities, far beyond city and state borders. Numerous spectators follow the league games and competitions. The professional leagues recruit their players or athletes directly from the college teams. Therefore, the coaches of the university teams have funds available to recruit not only local but also international athletes. Therefore, even very good athletes from Germany with a high school diploma or advanced technical college entrance qualification can benefit from sports scholarships in the USA.
Requirements for an athletic scholarship in the USA
The basic requirements for receiving a sports scholarship at a university or college in the USA are based on the general study requirements and the requirements of the responsible gaming authority.
The academic requirements are:
- At least a technical college entrance qualification, better a high school diploma
- A grade average of at least 4.0 (GPA Average at least 2.0). However, the individual requirements of the university, which are usually higher, must be taken into account here.
- TOEFL test result of at least 80 points, also individual requirements of the universities
- Letters of recommendation from usually two people
- Depending on the university, there may be additional application requirements
The sporting prerequisites for obtaining eligibility (eligibility to play) are:
- SAT test result with at least 820 points
- No previous professional sporting engagement
- A few more criteria from the NCAA and NAIA athlete licensing authorities
Sports sponsored with athletic scholarships
The following sports are recognized in college sports in the United States and can be sponsored with college sports grants. For all other sports, unfortunately, no sports scholarships can be awarded in the USA. Learn more about USA and North America on ethnicityology.
Sports for women
Archery, Badminton, Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Equestrian, Fencing, Field Hockey, Golf, Gymnastics, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Rifle *, Rowing, Rugby *, Skiing, Soccer, Softball, Squash *, Swimming, Syncronized Swimming *, Tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo
Sports for men
Baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle *, skiing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo, wrestling
(* Only very few universities offer these sports.)
Amount of US sports scholarships and how you will be reimbursed
The amount of sports scholarships in the US is usually based on the individual strength of the athlete. For example, if a tennis player is higher up in the team line-up due to his strength, he will receive a higher scholarship than a teammate in a lower position. (In tennis, the team is set up according to the strengths of the game.)
In addition, the amount of the sports scholarship depends on whether a sport is sponsored by both women and men. If the sport is only promoted for women across America, for example, more money is available for the coaches. In this way, more athletes can be promoted and usually with higher sums.
It is common for athletic scholarships in the US to have a fee waiver of 50-100% of all tuition, room and board costs. Exceptional athletes sometimes even receive additional money for books, flights and other items. However, this rarely happens.
It is characteristic of athletic scholarships in the USA, that the grant amounts over the years and with the strength of the athletes changed. Coach and player negotiate it every year. In the event of a sharp drop in performance, athletes must expect a reduction. Likewise, if they perform better, they can talk to the coach about increasing the scholarship. If a scholarship holder is injured while doing sports at the university, they will still receive their scholarship.
The following points can have a further (negative) influence on the amount of the scholarship:
- Academic achievement is below the minimum limit.
- A scholarship holder cheats on academic exams and is found out.
Both points can feel that the sports scholarship is being cut or that funding is being stopped entirely. In addition to their sporting role in the university team, scholarship holders should also always be exemplary students.
Duration of funding through USA sports scholarships
Sports scholarships in the US are paid for a maximum of 4 years. The duration is based on the length of study that is typically required for a Bachelor’s degree in the United States. The coaches are interested in recruiting athletes immediately after graduating from high school. In this way they can work with the athletes for as long as possible and increase their performance for the university team through intensive training.
Possible courses of study with a sports scholarship
A sports scholarship secures the financing of studies in the USA by the fact that the coach organizes a more or less high fee waiver for the athlete with the help of his budget. The athlete receives this for participating in university sports competitions for his team and for improving himself as much as possible with a lot of training during the rest of the time in order to help the team achieve success.
The possible degree programs that sponsored athletes can take are the same that regular students can choose. It is them every academic program open, whether economics, medicine, physics or foreign languages – even language courses are possible. To do this, they must meet the relevant admission requirements for the respective degree programs.
Organization of a sports scholarship in the USA
In principle, a sports scholarship in the USA only secures the financing of a (bachelor’s) degree. Sport itself has nothing to do with studying. However, interested parties must meet the relevant requirements of the course as well as regular students.
You can get a sports scholarship in the USA including a player’s permit through contact with US coaches and with a lot of persuasion. For this, interested parties must be familiar with the complicated rules on eligibility (playing permit) of the NCAA, NCAA II or NAIA player authorities, depending on which league the future university is playing in.
Furthermore, in order to be able to take advantage of the scholarship at all, one must also be admitted to the course.
If you are interested in a sports scholarship in the United States, you may know your sports colleagues who also studied in the United States. Maybe you already know one or two coaches from sports events. However, this should not obscure the fact how important it is to an agency (such as Sport-Scholarships.com) to use for the organization of a sports scholarship in the United States. This has the following reasons:
- Due to many years of experience, coaches in the USA are very careful with private applications from individual athletes, as no agency checks the academic and athletic performance prior to the application. As a rule, coaches have had bad experiences with private statements about the athletic and academic achievements of potential applicants. An agency is much more trustworthy for the coaches.
- Experienced agencies have a network of coaches. This allows you to get a wider range of scholarship offers.
- Agencies present their customers to the coaches in the best possible way and can thus get the highest possible sports grants for the customers.
- Lots of scholarship offers mean lots of different levels of scholarship – pick the best athletic scholarship in the US or the best deal.
- Many scholarships also mean many colleges with many courses offered – only there is related to the ideal university in the academic sense find.
- Agencies advise on the right academic choice of university.
- The academic application process is a fairly extensive bureaucratic process in which an agency provides support with many useful tips in addition to organizing the scholarship.
- The agency checks the basic requirements for a game permit before starting the application process for this.
- Obtaining a license to play is a rather complicated process. Communication with the supreme supervisory authority is not that easy and many questions have to be answered (correctly).
- If the customer was not found satisfactorily and is not able to cope on site, some agencies refer to another university again free of charge.
- Agencies are available with other tips on studying in the USA at any time before and after departure.
- The agency’s price for a placement is many times lower than the possible savings with independent organization. The reason for this lies in the mediation of the highest possible sports scholarship with a large number of scholarship offers.
