Easiest and hardest sport to get a scholarship - ASM Scholarships (2024)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association states that there are on average 8 million high-school student-athletes in the U.S. Of those, only 480,000 go on to play a sport at an NCAA school. These student-athletes are actively competing for a segment of the scholarship funds that the NCAA values at $3.5 billion. It is not easy to get a scholarship.

For this reason, few students will earn enough money to cover tuition and room and board, but many will earn a partial scholarship. Roughly 2% of high school athletes are awarded some form of athletics scholarship to compete in college. Generally, the average student-athlete on their own can earn up to $18,000 a year, but ASM earns their athletes on average $35,000 a year. You do the math. Subsequently, now that you know how hard it is to earn an athletic scholarship, let’s break it down by the numbers.

Easiest Men’s Scholarships to Earn

1. Lacrosse: 12.6% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 431 programs in the U.S., 17 are NCAA DI programs offering 12.6 scholarships per team. There are 75 NCAA DII programs offering 10.8 scholarships per team. The 236 NCAA DIII programs and the 33 NAIA programs do not offer lacrosse scholarships, but 28 JUCO teams offer 20 scholarships per program.
2. Ice Hockey: 12.1% chance of earning a scholarship. There are 541 programs in the U.S., 60 are NCAA DI with 18 scholarships per team and 7 are NCAA DII with 13.5 scholarships available. There are 40 NCAA DIII and NAIA teams that do not offer scholarship monies. The NAIA and ACHA programs do not offer athletic scholarships.
3. Baseball: 11.5% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 1,492 programs in the U.S., 299 of them are NCAA DI offering 11.7 scholarships per team. There are 274 NCAA DII programs offering 9 scholarships per team. The NCAA DIII has 389 programs that do not offer athletic scholarship monies. The NAIA has 184 programs offering 12 scholarships per team.
4. Football: 7.1% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 894 programs, 255 of them are NCAA DI offering between 63-85 scholarships per team. There are 170 NCAA DII programs with 36 available scholarships per team. There are 248 NCAA DIII programs with no academic scholarships available. The NAIA has 85 programs with 24 scholarships per team. Junior Colleges offer 68 programs with 85 scholarships per team available.
5. Swimming: 7.0% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 500 colleges that offer swim, 143 are NCAA DI and offer 9.9 scholarships per team. There are 58 NCAA DII teams offering 8.1 scholarships per team. There are 200 NCAA DIII teams that do not offer any athletic scholarship monies. The NAIA has 22 teams with 8 scholarships per team available. JUCO has 20 programs with 15 scholarships per team and the CCCAA offers 47 teams with 15 scholarships per team.

Easiest Women’s Scholarships to Earn

1. Ice Hockey: 18.1% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 108 programs, 36 of them are NCAA DI and offer 18 scholarships per team. There are 67 NCAA DIII teams that do not offer any athletic scholarships, neither do the 80 ACHA teams. Internationals make up 26.9% of teams.
2. Lacrosse: 12.6% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 562 programs, 115 of them are NCAA DI and offer 12 scholarships per team. There are 114 NCAA DII teams that offer 9.9 scholarships per team. The 293 NCAA DIII and the 37 NAIA programs do not offer athletic scholarships. The Junior College’s have 20 programs that offer 20 scholarships per team. Internationals make up .9% of the teams.
3. Soccer: 9.3% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 1,733 programs, 338 of them are NCAA DI and offer 14 scholarships per team. There are 262 NCAA DII programs that offer 9.9 scholarships per team. There are 441 NCAA DIII programs that do not offer any athletic scholarships but the 212 NAIA programs offer 12 scholarships per team. There are 241 Junior College programs offering 12 scholarships per team.
4. Field Hockey: just under a 10% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 284 programs, 79 of them are NCAA DI offering 12 scholarships per team. There are 35 programs at the NCAA DII level offering 6.3 scholarships per team. There are 171 NCAA DIII programs that do not offer athletic scholarships.
5. Swimming: 7.3% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 691 programs, 195 of them are NCAA DI offering 14 scholarships per team. There are 104 NCAA DII programs with 8.1 scholarships available per team. There are 271 NCAA DIII programs that do not offer any athletic scholarships. There are 44 NAIA programs that offer 8 scholarships per team. There are 13 Junior Colleges with 15 scholarships available.

Hardest Men’s Scholarship to Earn

1. Wrestling: only a 2.7% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 395 programs, 78 of them are NCAA DI offering 9.9 scholarships per team. There are 64 NCAA DII programs offering 9 scholarships per team. There are 109 NCAA DIII programs that do not offer athletic scholarships but there are 50 NAIA programs that offer 8 scholarships per team. There are also 62 Junior Colleges offering 20 scholarships per team.
2. Volleyball: 3.3% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 239 programs, 23 of them are NCAA DI offering 4.5 scholarships per team. There are 25 NCAA DII programs offering 4.5 scholarships per team. There are 107 NCAA DIII programs that do not offer athletic scholarships. There are 43 NAIA programs offering 8 scholarships per team and 41 Junior College teams.
3. Basketball: 3.5% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 2,021 programs, 337 of them are NCAA DI programs offering 13 scholarships per team. There are 312 NCAA DII programs offering 10 scholarships per team. There are 426 NCAA DIII programs that do not offer athletic scholarships. There are 233 NAIA programs offering 18 scholarships per team. Junior Colleges have 433 programs offering 15 scholarships per team.

Hardest Women’s Scholarship to Earn

1. Volleyball: 3.9% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 1,802 programs, 334 of them are NCAA DI offering 12 scholarships per team. There are 298 NCAA DII programs offering 8 scholarships per team. There are 436 NCAA DIII programs that do not offer any athletic scholarships. The NAIA has 220 programs that offer 8 scholarships per team. Junior Colleges have 346 programs offering 14 scholarships per team.
2. Basketball: 3.9% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 1,300 programs, 64 of them are NCAA DI offering 15 scholarships per team. There are 48 NCAA DII programs offering 10 scholarships per team. There are 440 NCAA DIII programs that do not offer any athletic scholarships. The NAIA has 235 programs that offer 8 scholarships per team. Junior Colleges have 405 programs that offer 15 scholarships per team.
3. Tennis: 3% chance of earning a scholarship. Of the 1,158 programs, 312 of them are NCAA DI offering 8 scholarships per team. The NCAA DII has 216 programs offering 6 scholarships per team. In the NCAA DIII level there are 371 programs that do not offer any athletic scholarships. The NAIA has 114 programs offering 5 scholarships per team and Junior Colleges have 70 programs with 9 scholarships available per team.

Finally, athletic scholarships are not the only way to receive help with college tuition. Grants are also available if you can’t get a scholarship. Read more here to see if you can qualify.