Quite a good number of chaps have been privileged to win some football scholarships. If you are passionate about football and would like to further your career in the US, Kudos! You’ve come to the right place.
We will help you find some of the best football scholarships in the USA that can help you.
United Sports USA has given over one thousand players football scholarships to over 40 different states in America.
Every passing year, thousands of football players dream of acquiring a full-ride scholarship to football academies and colleges. Football scholarships are some of the most lucrative and coveted financial aid opportunities.
They are also highly competitive, and only the most exceptional players will have a chance at winning a full-tuition football scholarship.
In this article, Best football scholarships in the USA, we will show you the best football scholarships available and also tell you every other necessary thing you would need to know.
You can scroll through the table of content below to get an overview of what this post entails.
Table of contents
About Football Scholarships in the USA
Unarguably, winning football scholarships is difficult, but even so, it can do more for the person that wins it than we imagine. It does more than just footing college bills.
Winning football scholarships come with a lot of honor.
It takes a lot of work and commitment to really tread the part leading to winning a football scholarship. It is always better for football players to begin thinking about scholarships from the moment they join the high school team.
College recruiters and football scholarship donors look at an athlete’s performance throughout their high school stay and will often begin singling out exceptional players well before their senior year.
Find below the various categories of football scholarships available to you.
1#. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football scholarships
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a body responsible for protecting student-athletes and regulating all aspects of football at the college level.
The NCAA comprises three sections that set the rules by which colleges recruit players and scholarship beneficiaries, and they also dispense financial aid and scholarships.
Each division is also responsible for regulating players’ amateur status and coaching personnel’s rights and responsibilities, as well as scheduling the practice and playing seasons.
All NCAA colleges are bound by the organization’s rules and are subject to severe penalties for any infringement.
NCAA Division I
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has over 236 NCAA Division I colleges and universities in the United States. They include notable schools like Michigan State, Baylor, UCLA, and Florida State.
The Division I football teams are top-notch; only exceptional high school players can access scholarship money from this school.
The NCAA has limited the number of full-ride, and partial tuition, scholarships that Division I schools can offer. Division I colleges are limited to 85 full-tuition scholarships per year.
Competition for these scholarships is more than fierce, and only elite football players will be targeted for recruitment.
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II schools are smaller public universities or private colleges. They have more limited finances than Division I benefactors, reflected in the number of scholarships they can offer. The NCAA’s plan limits Division II schools to 36 fully-funded or partial scholarships per year.
This limitation prompts the school to look out for only the most exceptionally best to offer their NCAA football scholarships for their schools.
While Division I schools can offer scholarships to premier quarterbacks, Division II schools are interested in multi-talented players who can bring a wide range of skills to their teams.
While these football scholarships’ division 2 opportunities may be more limited, they still provide increased opportunities for more multifaceted players.
NCAA Division III
These smaller institutions value academics more than their Division I or II counterparts. Division III schools have very excellent football programs, but there is a strict rule over them by the NCAA order not to offer any form of scholarships.
However, Division III schools still look for exceptional players. But what they are looking for are elite players with firm academic backgrounds.
Division III schools may be restricted from offering football scholarships. Still, they can provide general scholarships and grants to academically impressive students who have excelled at high school football as an extracurricular activity.
This way, they can build successful college teams while bringing the best and the brightest to their campuses.
Students who wish to pursue football at the college level and have strong academic backgrounds may find that Division III colleges offer the best of both worlds.
2#. The Walter Byers Scholarship
The Walter Byers Scholarship is a renewable one-year postgraduate scholarship initiated in 1988 to recognize the contributions of the former executive director through encouraging excellence in academic performance by student-athletes.
Under this program, one male and one female student-athlete annually will be awarded a postgraduate scholarship for outstanding academic achievement and potential for success in postgraduate study.
The scheme is very competitive because its awards are up to $24,000.
3#. The Jim McKay Scholarship
The Jim McKay Scholarship is a $10,000 annual award in honor of the immense contributions and legacy of pioneer sports journalist and broadcaster Jim McKay. It was established in 2008.
Annually, one male and one female student or student-athlete will be awarded a one-time $10,000 Jim McKay scholarship for outstanding academic achievement and their potential to make a significant contribution to the sports communication industry or public relations.
McKay scholars will be recognized as having a unique aptitude and commitment to the communications field while displaying the highest level of professional integrity, including the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, and public accountability, with the element of compassion that so infused McKay’s long and storied career.
4#. The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
The NCAA awards up to 126 postgraduate scholarships annually. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
The one-time non-renewable scholarships of $10,000 are awarded three times yearly, corresponding to each sport season (fall, winter, and spring).
Each sports season, there are 21 scholarships available for men and 21 for women for use in an accredited graduate program.
All former student-athletes who earned an undergraduate degree from an NCAA member school are eligible to be nominated by that school for an NCAA graduate degree scholarship, regardless of when they received their undergraduate degree.
This scholarship is currently open. The deadline is 31 May.
5#. NAIA Football Scholarships
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is a scholarship program offering student-athletes an alternative to the larger NCAA schools. The NAIA comprises 257 member colleges and universities USA.
Even though these programs are not as notable as the NCAA, they still offer many college football scholarships for students, especially those looking to use their athletic prowess as a stepping stone to quality education. NAIA schools provide a way to turn their football skills into scholarship funding to help pay for college.
6#. NJCCA Football Scholarships
The National Junior College Athletics Association comprises 525 member colleges nationwide, 67 of which have competitive football programs.
These two-year community colleges often offer an intermediary step for students who are unprepared or can not afford to head directly to a traditional four-year university.
Many student-athletes neglect to consider the financial aid opportunities available at the junior college level.
Many junior colleges offer football scholarships for talented high school graduates pursuing their education at the community college level.
As with the scholarship programs endorsed by the NAIA, these programs offer valuable financial assistance to students who may be more interested in pursuing a degree than a professional career in athletics.
Scholarship programs at NJCAA member colleges are not as strictly regulated as those at either NCAA or NAIA schools. Every participating junior college will have its programs, and interested students should contact their school’s athletic department and office of financial aid for details on any football scholarships which may be available.
7#. Ivy League Scholarships
Ivy League Schools are known for their prestige. However, Ivy League schools are restricted by their own rules from offering athletic scholarships.
This is not to say that they do not wish to recruit talented football players to their campuses, but those players must be able to pass scrutiny in the classroom. Ivy schools are more interested in academics than all.
How to Get a Football Scholarship
The process of getting a scholarship first starts with getting recruited. To get the best players from each recruiting class, coaches look at athletes as soon as their freshman and sophomore years in high school and sometimes earlier.
Coaches are restricted in contacting you early in high school, but they can view online profiles of athletes and watch a video of them if it is available.
That is why we recommend every football player create a free online profile and get their information online for coaches to view.
You can create a free online football profile by clicking the parent or athlete button on the left.
How many football scholarships are given each year
There are over 850 college football programs at US colleges/Universities covering all three divisions of the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA. Of these, 131 are NCAA Div. I. You can get a scholarship to do any of these programs.
Final words:
Acquiring a football scholarship in America allows you to train at world-class facilities under top coaches!
The US College system is now producing some of the most exciting players in the world. So, take the chance and sign up for one or more of these scholarships. You could be the next big college star!
Cheers!
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