Student-athletes and parents seeking college scholarships should be aware of the odds that they’re up against.
Why do you think most student-athletes play sports growing up? It’s usually because they saw someone playing on television and fell in love with it, or they had an older sibling play and picked up after them, or something of the sort. If you started competing at a young age, you remember how fun it was to realize that you were among the best playing your sport at your age.
Over time, the fun and recreational side of youth sports is met with the desire to achieve the ultimate goal. Securing a college scholarship. Competing at the highest level can and should be fun. However, student-athletes and parents should be honest with themselves about the effort that they’re willing to put in if they want to earn an athletic college scholarship.
NCAA conducts a study on the probability of student-athletes competing in college athletics
Last year, the NCAA released an official study in which they estimated the probability of high school student-athletes competing in collegiate athletics. The results of the study are pretty interesting and are something that all parents and players should be aware of.
According to the NCAA, nearly eight million students currently participate in high school athletics in the United States. Of that eight million, only an estimated 480,000 compete as NCAA athletes or about six percent. If you’re not good at math, we’ll help you out. About 1 in every 15 high school players go on to play in college. One in 57 go Division I. So, not the best odds, but definitely possible.
You can do it though. Dreams come true every day. The likelihood of an NCAA student-athlete earning a college degree is outstanding; graduation success rates are 86% in Division I, 71% in Division II, and 87% in Division III. So the numbers tell us that students who play at the collegiate level have an excellent chance of graduating with their degree. Each student-athlete’s situation is different but receiving an athletic scholarship obviously makes life a little easier.
We here at Free Game Program want student-athletes and parents to understand all that goes into the college recruiting process. We have resources and a staff of former student-athletes ready to help you get to the next level.
If you have any questions about tutoring, training, the recruiting process or anything else, we’re always here to help. You can always email us here info@freegameprogram.com or DM us on any of our social media platforms @freegameprogram.