College Baseball Recruiting – Scholarships and the Competition

A lot of the questions we receive here at SportsForce Recruiting have to do with athletic scholarships. As you are probably finding out the hard way, the college recruiting process can be very difficult and confusing. A lot of the confusion comes from athletic scholarships and what is actually available for student-athletes in their perspective sports.

Many families are very stressed over finding athletic scholarships! To help families alleviate the stress, and have a better understanding about athletic scholarships, we have created our Athletic Scholarships Available Guide.

Over the next couple of weeks we are going to take a closer look at specific sports and breakdown what scholarships are actually available and the competition for these scholarships.

We’re going to start off by taking an in-depth look at College Baseball Recruiting.

While there are a decent amount of baseball scholarship opportunities available at the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA levels, there is also an abundance of talented high school baseball players competing for all of these different scholarship opportunities.

Below is a chart that shows all of the schools that offer baseball and the baseball scholarships that are available at each level:

*Number of scholarships varies

*** Division 3 schools don’t offer athletic scholarships ***

Baseball Participation by the Numbers:

• 473,500 baseball players at the high school level
• 10,400 go on to play DI baseball (About 2% of all HS players)
• 20,200 go on to play DII or DIII baseball (About 4% of all HS players)
• 6,300 go on to play NAIA baseball (About 1% of all HS players)
• 15,300 go on to play at Junior College (About 3% of all HS players)

In summary, only about 11% of all high school baseball players actually end up playing some level of college baseball.

So, not only is the recruiting and athletic-scholarship process confusing, but it is also super competitive! That is why it is very important for you to understand where you stand in the college recruiting process and what schools you should be realistically going after when you are creating your college target list.

A few tips for maximizing your scholarship opportunities:

• Scholarships aren’t based solely on talent
• Schools also make their “target list” and look for athletes that will be a good fit
• Many schools are looking for athletes that have a good academic standing
• “Full Ride” scholarships are VERY RARE – partial scholarships are more likely
• There are many more opportunities outside the top Division I schools
• If you are looking to walk on, there are still scholarship opportunities available
• BE OPEN to all levels of competition to maximize your opportunities

Remember, even though the recruiting and scholarship process is difficult and confusing, it doesn’t mean you have to go through it alone! We are here to help provide you with expert guidance and the tips and tools necessary to maximize your opportunities.

Over the last five years SportsForce Recruiting has helped over 1,000 student-athletes and families successfully navigate the college recruiting and athletic scholarship process while saving families on average $50,000 in college expenses.

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