The Truth About Track and Field Scholarships

Most high school track and field athletes hope to get an athletic scholarship for college. And I can’t blame them. But the truth about athletic scholarships is very far away from the common perception. College has become very expensive in recent years, and knowing how track and field scholarships work will give you the best shot at getting one that makes college affordable.

COVID-19’s lasting impact on Athletic Scholarships

The Covid-19 pandemic had a series of unintended consequences on the world of college athletics. In 2020 sports came to an abrupt halt, and that caused eligibility waivers to be given out to all fall, winter, and spring athletes. This means that every college athlete who was enrolled in 2019-2020 or 2020-21 was given an extra year to compete. The impact of this has persisted into the year 2024. And it means that there are essentially be 20% more athletes eligible to compete in college than the usual number of roster spots. However, the NCAA is considering offering a fifth year of eligibility to all college athletes going forward. If that happens, the recruiting landscape may never return back to its pre-pandemic normal.

How many track and field scholarships are available?

The first misconception about sports scholarships is that they are guaranteed for your entire time in college. However, they are actually renewed every year you are in college. It is also worth noting that most scholarships are not full rides.

Although the total scholarship allotment for NAIA and NJCAA are known, there is no established data on the number of athletes receiving athletic aid. What we do know is that all NAIA scholarship allotments are under (equivalency) designation which means that coaches can offer partial scholarships for every sport. NJCAA is broken up into D1-D3 levels where there are no athletic  scholarships given at the D3 level.

Through the 2024-25 school year the track and field scholarship limits across the different divisions are the following:

Scholarship Limits for Men’s Track & Field (includes Cross Country)

NCAA D1: 12.6 (equivalency)

NCAA D2: 12.6 (equivalency)

NCAA D3: Non-Scholarship

NAIA: 12 (equivalency)

Scholarship Limits for Women’s Track & Field (includes Cross Country)

NCAA D1: 18 (equivalency)

NCAA D2: 12.6 (equivalency)

NCAA D3: Non-Scholarship

NAIA: 12 (equivalency)

For the 2025-26 school year the track and field scholarship limits for Division 1 will change. The proposed limits for men and women are the following:

• D1 Men: 45 athlete roster limit (no cap on scholarship dollars)

  • Note this provision is intended to primarily increase scholarship spending in specific conferences (i.e. SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC)

• D1 Women: 45 athlete roster limit (no cap on scholarship dollars)

  • Note this provision is intended to primarily increase scholarship spending in specific conferences (i.e. SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC)

Below is a breakdown of the approximate percentage of athletes at each level receive any athletic scholarship money across all sports.

• NCAA Division 1 – 57%

• NCAA Division 2 – 63%

• NCAA Division 3 – 0 % (Non-Scholarship)

• NAIA – Undisclosed

• NJCAA - Undisclosed

The Future of Track and Field Scholarships

The NCAA has set a plan in a motion for the 2025-26 school year and beyond that will remove scholarship limits entirely and replace them with “roster caps” at the D1 level. Schools that opt-in to this model will technically be able to offer up to 45 scholarships to either their men’s or women’s track and field teams. However, it is not anticipated that most of those schools will offer anything close to that. Due to budgetary restricitions it is uncertain how much more money will be offered to track and field recruits as full-rides. However, most D1 schools will be opting-out of these new rules. Those schools will still be able to have as many track and field athletes on the team as they want. But almost all of those schools do not offer the maximum allowable scholarship limit to their team (18 for men and 12 for women) in the old system. Long story short, getting a track and field scholarship is much harder to accomplish than simply getting recruited to join a team, because most athletes don’t get one.

How much scholarship money should you expect?

Track and field programs are “equivalency” programs, where coaches can offer scholarships to their athletes, but often choose to offer less than a full-ride to many. In track and field specifically, many athletes historically do not receive any athletic aid even if they are recruited to their team. The athletes who are most likely to get sizable scholarship offers typically rate as 4 to 5 star recruits on the SCA National recruit ranking list. Across all the divisions a very small percentage of athletes are offered “full-ride scholarships”. Most college athletes will get the majority of their college paid for with non-athletic money, even if they do receive a scholarship.

Colleges also have the option in equivalency sports to determine how much money to fund their programs up to the maximum allowable limit. In other words, some teams will spend more money on scholarships than others, which is why some teams win many more championships than others in track and field.

Coach Rob’s Note: If an athlete in track and field is given a full ride, it normally means that more athletes on the team will not receive any scholarship. The more talented you are, the more likely you are to have a shot at receiving a “full-ride”.

What does it take to get offered a full-ride scholarship?

The truth is that most athletes are not going to get a full-ride scholarship. These are most coveted because they cover the full cost of attendance including tuition, room and board, books, and other fees. However, this is the best way to get one.

• Prove to a coach you can be a key contributor to their team’s championship aspirations. In track & field, a recruit who is projected to be an automatic qualifier for the national championships out of high school is likely to be considered for a full-ride scholarship. Anytime a full-ride is offered the coach is determining the value of that one athlete is often worth more than two or three other athletes combined.

Why don’t Ivy League schools offer athletic scholarships?

In Division 1, every conference has schools that offer some scholarship dollars except for the Ivy League. The reason why Ivy League Schools don’t give scholarship dollars is quite simply because they don’t really need to. These schools are among the most prestigious in the country, and they have billions of dollars in endowment. As a result, they offer generous financial aid to anyone who needs it. Though a talented athlete who wants to attend these schools may not get a scholarship, if they are unable to afford to pay the tuition and other fees, the schools will often cover the difference. By giving aid to only the athletes who show they need financial aid assistance, their teams can offer even more aid than some schools that give scholarships. This is also the reason why Ivy League Track and field teams have become some of the most competitive in the country, and rates as one of the best conference in Division 1.

Coach Rob’s Note: Unless your family’s income is in the top 10 percent of the nation it is unlikely an Ivy League School will ask you to pay more than even 20 percent of the total cost of attendance.

Can you compete in college without getting a scholarship?

The truth is that in the NCAA’s three divisions across all sports, only about 36.4 percent of all athletes will receive any athletic scholarship. This means that 3 out of every 5 NCAA athletes is not paying for their education at all through sports. Most track and field recruits are essentially “preferred walk-ons” who don’t receive scholarships but are guaranteed a spot on the team. Many programs throughout all the divisions are non-scholarship anyway so although they recruit athletes, they will not offer you an athletic scholarship amount.

Coach Rob’s Note: It is always the best decision to look for a school where a coach wants to recruit you. If you attempt to walk-on to a school and “tryout” when you arrive there is no guarantee that you will make the team, and if you do, it is unlikely that you will get the best opportunity to compete consistently. Coaches invest a lot of time, energy and effort in recruiting, so walk-on athletes are unlikely to travel much to track meets because they would have to admit they recruited the wrong athletes.

How do I determine my academic eligibility to receive an athletic scholarship?

The NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA all have their own separate eligibility requirements. These give specific parameters that you have to fulfill in order to receive a scholarship. There are certain courses you have to take in high school, as well as certain grades for each level. The truth is that the bare minimum requirements for athletic scholarships is often not enough to get recruited to most schools. Essentially the better you are as a student, the easier it will be for you to find a college coach who is willing to recruit you. In track and field, most programs focus on high achieving students who can qualify for academic aid to go along with any track and field scholarship dollars.

Coach Rob’s Note: Athletes who are barely eligible to receive a scholarship, are expected to have academic challenges when they start college. If an athlete is not highly talented, most coaches may not see it as worth it to bring them onto the team because they will need a lot of academic support to simply stay eligible.

How does a verbal scholarship offer work?

A verbal scholarship offer is essentially as the name suggests. A coach offers a scholarship verbally to the athlete, and they can accept it without filling out any official paperwork. Because they have not “signed” a letter of intent the athlete can essentially back out at any time. This also means that the coach can revoke the offer at any time.

It is generally frowned upon to make a verbal commitment and then back out later on. People do it, but it comes across very unfavorably with not only the coach but looks unprofessional for the athlete. The thought is that if they will “de-commit” from one school, they may similarly be untrustworthy wherever they do go. If it is always best to express gratitude for an offer and ask for time to consider it rather than verbally committing prematurely. If you are talented enough to receive a verbal offer, you are likely good enough to convince a coach to wait for a commitment from you.

Is it possible to lose an athletic scholarship?

The short answer is yes, athletic scholarships can be taken away. It generally happens for a few reasons:

• A failure to maintain academic eligibility is the quickest way to lose your scholarship. A coach quite literally can’t keep you around if you are unable to compete.

• If you have an injury that will keep you from competing in the future, some coaches may choose to cancel your scholarship at the end of the year. This varies from school to school but if a coach feels they need to allocate that money elsewhere they may feel pressure to cancel the scholarship going forward.

• For any number of reasons a coach can simply decide not to renew a scholarship. Typically this is not just because you did not “perform up to standard” but more likely will be for disciplinary reasons. Sometimes new coaches may choose to pull pre-existing scholarships but that is also rare. Scholarships are given with the expectation that you as an athlete will uphold a standard. Any failure to meet this standard, can call into question whether you should continue as a scholarship athlete. Remember that athletic scholarships are one year renewable so choosing not to renew, is not truly “cancelling” a scholarship.

• Verbal agreements are not binding contracts. As a result coaches may choose to retract a scholarship offer. If your performance changes, you have a major injury, or something happens to change the way the coach views you and your professionalism, it is easy for a coach to simply rescind the verbal offer. Be aware that any offer prior to signing a letter of intent is contingent, so in that case you are not really “losing a scholarship” since you never had the opportunity to accept it.

What other types of financial aid can athletes receive?

Fewer than 2 out of every 5 college athletes in the NCAA are receiving any athletic scholarship aid, so there is a lot of other financial aid that athletes receive. Aid typically comes from several sources:

• Institutional Grants / Need Based Aid – Most colleges offer financial aid that attempts to meet some of the financial need that a student and family have. Schools that have more endowment money to offer will often give more than those who do not. This is why Ivy League schools can compete in Division 1 without offering any athletic scholarships.

• Merit Scholarships – This is when colleges offer academic scholarship based off of students hitting certain performance metrics in their high school career. GPA and Test Scores are normally the primary identifiers used to determine who gets what amount of scholarship.

• Independent Scholarships –There are many private or independent scholarships available. Students normally have to apply for these from many different sources like Scholly.com and may ask for an essay, recommendations, or other requirements for consideration.

• Federal Grants – The Federal Government offers both state and national grant money depending on your financial need and family qualifications. Every student who fills out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is eligible for this money.

• Federal Loans – The government also uses FAFSA to offer loan money to all college bound students. These loans often have low interest rates compared to other options and often can cover the difference between any “gap” remaining in the cost of attendance.

• Private Loans – Private companies also offer loans to students that you can apply for. However, I would say this is the least preferred way to fund your education. They come with higher interest rates and incentivize a student to go to a college that will become too costly in the long run.

Coach Rob’s Note: There is way more academic money available for college than athletic money, and it is the best bet towards funding your education.

Coach Rob is a recruiting expert and the Founder of SCA Recruiting. He is also the author of the book Winning the Ship: How to Win the College Athlete Recruitment Game. Available now on Amazon.