Junior Golf Rankings

What is a Full Grant-in-Aid?

Understanding the Math

How often have you heard junior golfers (or parents) say they were offered a full ride to play golf for a particular school? In most cases, these statements were probably inaccurate or at least exaggerated somewhat. Full Grant-in-Aid scholarships in NCAA men’s golf are extremely rare. They are more common in NCAA women’s golf; however most collegiate golfers receive partial athletic scholarships. To better understand this process, let’s start with the basics.

A full Grant-in-Aid Scholarship includes:

• Tuition and Fees
• Room
• Board (meals)
• Books
• Cost of Attendance (optional for participating Division I schools)

The exact amount for each line item will differ based on the school the student-athlete attends. A full Grant-in-Aid value is calculated by each school and used to determine the “equivalency” amount each NCAA Division I or II golfer has been awarded.

For example, if the value of a full Grant-in-Aid at a particular school is $40,000 and the student-athlete receives a $20,000 golf scholarship, their “scholarship equivalency” would be valued at 50% or one-half of a full Grant-in-Aid ($20,000 divided by $40,000). This calculation is made for each player on a team’s roster and the aggregate is then determined to ensure the team has not exceeded the NCAA’s maximum limit for awarding golf scholarships.

Maximum Limits for NCAA Golf Scholarships:

NCAA Division I Women’s Golf – may award up to 6.0 scholarships.

NCAA Division II Women’s Golf – may award up to 5.4 scholarships.

NCAA Division I Men’s Golf – may award up to 4.5 scholarships.

NCAA Division II Men’s Golf – may award up to 3.6 scholarships.

NCAA Division III institutions are prohibited from awarding athletic scholarships

NAIA institutions and Junior Colleges are permitted to award athletic scholarships.

It should be noted that even though schools are permitted to offer the aforementioned number of scholarships, not all schools have budgeted or “fully funded” their golf scholarship allowance. This is an excellent topic to discuss with coaches throughout the recruiting process.

In summary, junior golf families should realize that most collegiate golfers are awarded only partial athletic scholarships and they should have a plan in place to pay for the balance of the student-athlete’s cost of education. Academic scholarships or other merit-based awards are an excellent way to cover some or all of these remaining costs.

Play well!