NCAA’s Misleading Wording on “Guaranteed” Scholarships

If you’ve seen the NCAA’s “Driving Change” 30-second commercial during an event like March Madness or the College World Series, you may recall that the narrator says “…D1 scholarships are now guaranteed…”

Well, as Lee Corso might say on ESPN’s College Game Day during the Fall, “not so fast, my friend.”

While attending the annual NCAA Rules Seminar recently, I learned that Division I scholarships are NOT guaranteed if the scholarship agreement is written in a certain manner.

If a scholarship is written as a multi-year scholarship, but lists “zero” financial aid in years 2, 3 and 4, there is no guarantee that the athlete’s scholarship will be renewed after the first year. 

Furthermore, in that type of situation, there is no requirement that the athletic department must provide an opportunity for an appeal hearing.

The rationale of the NCAA is that the athlete is signing a scholarship agreement that clearly indicates there will be no athletic scholarship provided in years 2, 3 or 4, so no notice of non-renewal or the opportunity for an appeal hearing is necessary.

So, for example:

Year 1 – 100% of a full scholarship
Year 2 – 0 scholarship
Year 3 – 0 scholarship
Year 4 – 0 scholarship

This is a valid scholarship agreement with no assurances that your son or daughter will receive an athletic scholarship after the first year of the agreement.

Do you Have Questions?

If you have questions about your athlete’s scholarship and are interested in a confidential consultation to discuss, schedule a Scholarship Strategies Consult online, call us at 913-766-1235 or write to rick@informedathlete.com.