There is one question that comes up more than any other in my work. Sometimes parents will jump right in, first question: "What about scholarships?" Some families will listen, ask polite questions, and in an almost shy way say at the end of a meeting, "so...we were wondering about scholarships." Seniors, who are clearly annoyed, will knock on my door and say "my parents said I need to ask you about scholarships." But it is my number one question...what about scholarships?
I love this question, because it means families are thinking ahead. But I also want to gently clear up something before it breaks anyone's heart: there is a significant misunderstanding out there about how scholarships actually work, both athletically and academically, and I think families deserve the real picture.
Athletic Scholarships Aren't What Most People Think
Let's start with athletics, because this is where I see the most surprise. Many families picture a roster full of scholarship athletes, each one earning a nice chunk of a free ride. In reality, most rosters are filled largely with walk-ons, especially in non-revenue and Olympic sports. The number of actual scholarships available per team is far smaller than the number of athletes suiting up for competition. Across all sports, only about 57% of Division I athletes and roughly 63% of Division II athletes receive any athletic aid, whether full or partial.
And here's where it gets interesting: this varies enormously by sport, by gender, and by how much money a school has actually allocated to that sport in the first place.
Take men's track and field as an example of how this used to work. Many Division I men's track and field programs carried rosters of roughly 35–45 athletes while being limited to just 12.6 scholarship equivalents for the entire team. Do the math, and it's clear most of the guys on that roster were walking on, not signing scholarship paperwork.
Now here's an important, timely note: starting with the 2025–26 academic year, the NCAA overhauled a lot of this system as part of the House v. NCAA settlement. For Division I schools that opt in, the old sport-specific scholarship caps are gone, replaced with roster caps instead. Track and field, for example, now has a roster limit of 45, and in theory, a school could fund every one of those spots.
But a rule change isn't the same thing as a check being written. Fully funding a roster is expensive, and outside the wealthiest conferences, most athletic departments can't cover every spot the rules now technically allow. So the walk-on reality doesn't disappear, it just shifts, from an NCAA rulebook to each school's own budget. And plenty of programs never left the old model at all: D1 schools aren't required to opt in, Division II wasn't included in the settlement, and Division III still offers no athletic scholarships whatsoever.
The takeaway isn't "don't play college sports for the money." It's this: do your research on a program, and take a close look at its walk-on standards to see where your student might realistically fit in. A roster spot and a scholarship check are two very different things.
Academic and Merit Scholarships: More Automatic Than You'd Think
On the academic side, there's another misunderstanding I want to clear up. Many merit-based scholarships aren't something students have to hunt down or apply for separately. At many colleges, students are automatically considered for institutional merit scholarships when they submit their admissions application. Other colleges, however, require a separate scholarship or honors application, so it's important to understand each school's process. For many families who don't qualify for need-based financial aid, institutional merit scholarships end up being the largest source of college discounts. The same is often true for other institutional awards, including some first-generation student programs and scholarships. As my mother always said, "if you want a scholarship, start studying."
The Scholarships That Do Require Effort
That said, I don't want anyone to think the well is dry. There are absolutely scholarships out there, thousands of them, but they tend to look different than what people picture. Many are smaller dollar amounts, often requiring an essay or an application, and often needing to be reapplied for every single year of college, not just once. It's not always the case, but it's common enough that families should plan on it being an annual task rather than a one-time application.
For students and families willing to put in that effort, a few well-regarded scholarship search engines are worth bookmarking:
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Fastweb – one of the oldest and largest scholarship databases, with a personalized matching system
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Bold.org – donor-funded, exclusive scholarships with a quick, no-login browsing option
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Scholarships.com – a massive, comprehensive database
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College Board's BigFuture – ties directly into the tools students already use for the SAT and AP exams
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Cappex – combines scholarship search with useful college-matching tools
So, what about scholarships? They're out there, they're real, and they're worth pursuing. But they rarely look like what families picture on day one. Go in informed, apply broadly and often, and know the real numbers behind the sport or the award you're chasing. That's how you actually find the money.