- Many college athletes are benefitting from athletic scholarships and NIL deals.
- But most high school athletes will have to find other ways to pay for college.
- Full-ride scholarships are very rare and big NIL money is only accessible to some athletes.
March Madness is underway. And while the hundreds of student-athletes competing for national championships may be a bit nervous about their upcoming games, there's one thing most of them don't have to worry about: how they're going to pay for school.
Many of these student-athletes have full-ride athletic scholarships that cover their tuition and fees, course-related books, and room and board. It means they might be able to avoid becoming on of the millions of Americans with student loan debt. The average list price for tuition at public and private colleges has grown from roughly $16,000 and $41,000 respectively in 2002, to $23,000 and $53,000 in 2022. The average American with student loans has a debt balance of roughly $39,000.
Several of these student-athletes are also making money from name, image, and likeness, or NIL, deals. The average Power 6 men's basketball player can expect to receive about $66,500 annually from NIL collectives, according to data from the NIL platform Opendorse provided to Business Insider. The average women Power 6 basketball player can expect to receive $13,250.
As great as this may sound, the odds are heavily against high school athletes going on to benefit from athletic scholarships and NIL compensation. So it's probably wise to keep saving for college.
Athletic scholarships are rare, often don't cover all expenses, and can be taken away
Less than 2% of high-school athletes receive athletic scholarships, Lisa Strasman, president of the college recruiting platform Next College Student Athlete, told Business Insider, citing NCAA data.
What's more, landing an athletic scholarship often isn't enough to fully pay for one's college education. While 2% of high-school athletes receive an athletic scholarship, Strasman said only about 1% receive a full-ride scholarship that fully covers expenses like tuition, books, and room and board.
If an athlete receives a Division I scholarship for a "head count," revenue-generating sport — basketball and football for men and basketball, tennis, volleyball, and gymnastics for women — they are guaranteed a full ride, Strassman said.
However, not every Division I athlete has a full-ride scholarship. The average men's basketball team, for instance, has 16 players but only 13 scholarship slots, per Next College Student Athlete — some players are "walk-ons." Strasman said teams generally use all of their available scholarships — the rare team might have fewer than 13 if they're penalized for NCAA violations.
Athletes in non-head count, "equivalency" sports typically receive partial scholarships. The size of these scholarships varies, but roughly a majority of Division I athletes receive some sort of athletic scholarship.
"The coach really has a pool of money to split against the roster however they see fit," Strasman said of partial scholarships, adding that it's very common for partial-scholarship athletes to receive academic scholarships that help cover more of their college expenses. Need-based financial aid can also help some athletes.
While any scholarship money is better than none, there's no guarantee those funds will be there all four years. Strasman said scholarships tend to be one-year commitments, and that schools and coaches generally have full discretion to decide whether to take away a scholarship after each season.
Of course, this can also work to the benefit of some athletes whose strong performance turns a partial scholarship one year into a full ride the next.
The athletes making big money from NIL deals often already have their college expenses covered
In 2021, student-athletes were granted the right to make money from their name, image, and likeness, laying the groundwork for what is now an estimated $1 billion NIL market.
This has allowed many athletes to receive financial proceeds well beyond the value of their scholarships. For example, the University of Iowa's Caitlin Clark has 11 reported NIL deals worth an estimated $3.1 million, compared to the school's $33,000 annual tuition for out-of-state students.
While this is valuable income, it's unlikely that big NIL earners like Clark are putting their money toward college tuition payments.
"I would say likely the kids that have the biggest paydays that we're hearing about are often already on scholarship," Strasman said.
In 2022, about 17% of Division I athletes received compensation from NIL deals, according to surveys of thousands of athletes conducted by NIL educator and consultant Bill Carter. The median Division I athlete earned about $65 per NIL activity in 2022, he wrote in an article published by Sports Business Journal.
While the growing NIL landscape is likely more profitable for a wider range of athletes than it was in 2022, some experts say the money is very concentrated in men's sports.
However, Strasman said NIL hasn't only benefited scholarship athletes.
"There have been examples of kids who are definitely not on athletic scholarship — but are big social media influencers and have a lot of followers — who are really using those platforms to their advantage and earning NIL deals that they certainly could put back toward school," she said.
The recruiting process has changed — but landing a scholarship remains challenging
It's always been difficult to land an athletic scholarship, but Strasman said it's not clear whether it's more or less difficult than it was a decade or two ago.
On the one hand, there are a lot more opportunities for kids to get noticed by college coaches.
"Back 20 years ago in the recruiting process, coaches could only get out to so many events and see kids play live in their region or the few events that they had the budget to get out to," she said.
Nowadays, coaches have much more access to online platforms that show the highlights and games of athletes from across the country. Strasman said there are also more camps and showcases where athletes can get exposure.
On the other hand, everyone benefits from this extra exposure, which has made the recruiting process more competitive.
"As the platforms become more accessible, there's more competition, more kids around the country that realize the potential of being able to play in college and earning scholarship dollars," she said.
But if athletes are willing to be open to a wide range of schools, Strasman said playing a sport in college is very possible.
"Some of them might be schools you haven't heard of or schools that are outside of the Division I level," she said. "But there are so many opportunities out there for kids who really want to play at the next level, even if they're not at that top 2% Division I level."
Are you a college athlete making money from NIL deals and willing to discuss details about your pay? If so, reach out to this reporter at [email protected].