Both can provide you with the life changing opportunity of a cut-price university degree, but what are the differences between academic and athletic scholarships?

As the names suggest, academic scholarships are awarded for achievement in the classroom whereas athletic scholarships are given for success in sport.

Although athletic scholarships are given based on sporting ability, you still have to meet certain academic standards with each league requiring a different minimum GPA for eligibility. Maintaining a GPA or SAT/ACT score is often overlooked, but if you do not have the grades you simply will not be eligible to play college sports.

In most cases, academic scholarships require a higher GPA, and you must maintain a certain standard of academic success through each semester in order to keep your scholarship. However, athletic performance does not play any influence on academic scholarships.

According to the NCAA, more than 180,000 student-athletes receive around $3.6 billion in athletic scholarships in Divisions I and II each year.

Athletic scholarships can come in the form of a full-ride or a partial scholarship. Full-ride scholarships will cover the entire cost of your college tuition, room and board; partial scholarships will cover a portion of the cost depending on the budget your coach has available. Most offers are typically one-year agreements, although multi-year offers while rare are not unheard of.

The amount of money available from academic scholarships varies from school-to-school, often with students who achieve higher GPAs being awarded larger sums. Available scholarships can often be found on a college or university’s website, or alternatively by contacting their admissions or financial aid departments.

Yes. Athletic and academic can be combined to cover the full cost of your college education.

Coaches often look favourably upon players who are eligible for some academic aid, as they would require less athletic money to be used up from the coaches’ budget.

At the end of the day, scholarships provide students with an immense opportunity regardless of whether they come from academic or athletic success. Find the balance that works for you to achieve your goals.