Many high school athletes want to take their skills to the next level, but do not receive any scholarship money. This creates a financial burden on the student that may be unrealistic to pay for, especially with the limited time on the schedule of a college athlete. 

Consider DII or DIII

The first thing to consider is stepping down to a lower division and level of play for a year. If you are worried about being able to afford attending a school if you do not receive a scholarship, the best option is to step down to a lower division. Since in this case you will not be playing in the Division I, you may not receive a full ride scholarship, but you can still get a significant amount of money towards funding your education. 

Related: What Makes DIII Recruiting Different?

Find Outside Scholarships

Another thing to consider is finding outside scholarships. There are many different websites with databases of scholarships provided by various public and private institutions. These scholarships are often less money and only awarded once per applicant, but if you are able to receive multiple of these each year it can amount to a significant amount of money. Websites you can find these types of scholarships on are the NCSA and UNIGO websites.

Related: Rate your Coaches, Facilities, and Campus Visits

Junior College is the Cheapest Option

The last thing to consider is playing for a junior college. There is a lot less scholarship money and funding for these programs, but the cost of attendance is also significantly less than any 4-year programs. Many junior colleges will often offer free tuition as well. Many players find a lot of success at the junior college level and end up moving up to a Division I program with a scholarship being awarded.

Not being offered a scholarship right out of high school is not the end of the world. It is important to expand your search in schools so that you have more options and to be open to playing at a lower level for a year. Continue to work hard and show improvements and you will draw the attention of big programs that can offer the scholarships you have been waiting for.

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* Originally published on October 18, 2022, by Royce Linder