Basketball Scholarships for Girls

Club basketball programs all over the country strive to expose players to opportunities that lead to college scholarships. The competition for scholarships is fierce for NCAA Division 1 schools, but girls who consider non-NCAA Division I schools will find the options for scholarships increase significantly. Athletic scholarships go to the elite players, but some schools outside Division I are allowed to offer combined athletic/academic scholarships to assist more students.

  1. NCAA Division I

    • The most recognized basketball scholarships for girls are in NCAA Division I. As of 2009, 328 women's basketball programs were in Division I. Each school is limited to 15 scholarship players in the program at any time. These schools recruit heavily and nationally, but most of the players who earn Division I scholarships are discovered at a high-profile tournaments and basketball camps. Women's Division I basketball is a head-count sport, which means that each of the 15 scholarships must be awarded in full to one player. They cannot split up the scholarship money beyond those 15 student-athletes.

    NCAA Divsion II

    • Another excellent option for girls looking to extend their basketball playing career beyond high school is found in NCAA Division II basketball. These smaller schools do not have the same basketball profile as the Division I universities, but more options are available when it comes to the dispersal of scholarship dollars. As of 2009, 291 schools were in Division II, and each can give up to 10 full scholarships. At the Division II level, the scholarships are equivalency-based, so the school can give partial scholarships to more than 10 players as long as the total does not add up to more than the 10 full-ride scholarships.

    NAIA

    • A group of 253 universities participate in women's basketball in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. NAIA schools offer fewer overall sports and put more of an emphasis on the academic side for the student-athlete, but they still offer scholarships and compete in basketball. Division I NAIA schools have 11 scholarships to offer in women's basketball and Division II schools can offer six. NAIA scholarships are equivalency-based, so they spread the money around to more students. NAIA schools are also able to supplement scholarships with additional academic awards for deserving students.

    Junior College

    • One of the lesser-known facts about sports scholarships is that two-year colleges also have scholarships. These are becoming less frequent as available money at the school is also a factor, but they are available to girls who take the junior college route.The National Junior College Athletic Association has 377 members and it allows schools to offer up to 16 women's basketball equivalencies. At Division I schools, a full scholarship is defined as tuition, board and books, while at a Division II college, it is defined as tuition only.