Sports scholarship to US/Canada?

[Berlesk]

My DC is on the national squad of a sport that is huge in other countries but not here in the UK. He is also very academic. The UK universities which offer a performance programme in his sport are not very academic, so would be a compromise. Some players get scholarships to go abroad, mostly to the US, but having looked into it briefly a while ago via the Fulbright Commission I got the impression that it was only the less academic US universities which offered sports/academic scholarships to international students. I may be wrong though, because the US system is so complex and the Fulbright Commission's advice isn't granular enough to help for specific situations. There are other websites offering advice, usually for a fee. Does anyone know if there is a trustable source of free information for sport scholarships? I just want to be able to narrow down which US/Canada universities might be able to offer scholarships in his particular sport, and then I can also look up their academic credentials in DC's subject to see if they fit.

I have no knowledge myself, but there's a decent article on just this subject in today's Sunday Times:

"Britain's brightest plot a course across the pond."

Won't attempt to link - you'll find it.

Lots of the top US universities offer sports scholarships (this was the way the rich and famous bought entry to these colleges for their DCs in the recent US College Sports Scandal). I am pretty sure that USC, Georgetown, Yale, Stanford, Princeton all have sports scholarships. It may depend on the sport you want but I would start with looking at the colleges you are interested in academically and go from there.

Surprised there aren't more responses here, given the high proportion of ambitious parents and high achieving children amongst MN posters.

Have you asked the GB national sports body for his particular sport?

As it's a minority sport in the UK the governing body operate on a bit of a shoestring. They promote their partnership uni's in England but when we've asked about other options they've said they can't help with that.

Hi @Berlesk
College Confidential dot com is the place to go for information about applying to US (and lesser extent Canadian) universities. I think that they have an area in their forums specifically for sports scholarships. It is a very difficult website to navigate, and it has its own distinct culture and you should take "chance me" type threads with a pinch of salt. However, you will find parents of kids applying for or who hold sport scholarships at a range of universities.

Canadian universities will admit applicants with slightly lower qualifications if the coach of the team really wants them. Otherwise, you are looking at the entrance scholarships that are available to any student. Sport isn't a huge driver for college admissions like it is in the USA.

Without knowing the sport, it is very hard to offer any other information. If your DCs sport is huge in N. America, there will be an extensive and very well resourced development program here, and it will be very very hard for a kid coming from an under-resourced country to realistically compete. I strongly suggest that you keep your DCs expectations for a sports scholarship in check until you get very specific interest e.g. a paid-off by the university visit and preferably a Letter of Interest from the coaching staff of a university that you would consider paying full freight for if DC didn't have a spot on the team. Also be aware that the recruitment cycle for many sports typically runs years before application so if your DC is already 15 or 16 it may be too late as it is possible that all the spots are already spoken for.

Is you DCs sport a D1 sport? Be aware that even in the USA, there aren't many scholarships on a D3 team. it may be entirely possible for your DC to be a walk-on, but you won't get any financial or admissions help in that situation.

My other thought is whether you have reached out to the sports federation in the USA as that should have a department which deals with sports scholarship/college team issues and they may be able to advise you or at least point you in the direction of the appropriate portal to start making contact with coaches. There are also college counsellors who you can pay to help you with this - they tend to specialize in specific sports and you could google them up and enquire about services/costs (we are talking tens of thousands of dollars in some cases).

HTH

If you own your home in an expensive area the value of your house may mean your child is not eligible for help with funding. I know of students with sports scholarships who do not receive any help with fees. Harvard offers swimming scholarship & Berkeley rowing & athletics, I know of English students who attended these as scholarship holders.

Thanks UKSounding. I'll Google some of those suggestions.

Hi again @Berlesk

By chance, this question came up on a US parenting forum this week (in the context of football and track & field). The thread is worth a read: www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/977115.page

Best of luck
UK

Yale, for instance, doesn't have sports scholarships. However, if you are very good at a sport, it will mean that you have a much better chance to get in to the university. Once you are in, scholarship is based on need. If you have a family income of less than `about $65,000, you will get a full scholarship and room and board paid for you. If you have a family income of under about $130,000 scholarship is on a sliding scale.

Most top US universities don’t offer sports scholarships. They can offer recruited athletes places in the school and then the athlete/students goes through the same meanstested financial aid process as other students. There may be limited access to financial aid if the student is not a US citizen.

The scam in “Varsity Blues” wasn’t parents getting scholarships for their kids it was parents getting their kids a place in the school.

Slightly lower tier schools may offer non means tested sports scholarships

Am new here

A friend's DC are both on track & field scholarships in the USA, one in Texas, the other in Colorado. Parents are loaded but only have to pay for flights as everything else including food is included.

I will try to find out how they chose their institutions because both DC had several offers.