What Sport Gives the Most Scholarships?

I'm a high school athlete considering college sports, and I'm curious about which sports tend to offer the most scholarships. Is it true that certain sports have more funding and opportunities than others?

Yes, it's true that certain sports can offer more scholarships than others. Generally speaking, the sports that offer the most scholarships at NCAA Division I institutions are football and basketball, due to their high visibility and revenue-generating ability.

Football, specifically at the Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) level, can offer a maximum of 85 full scholarships per college. This makes it the sport with the largest amount of scholarships available. Men's basketball follows, with a limit of 13 scholarships per college.

For women's sports, because of Title IX compliance, the sports that tend to offer the most scholarships are basketball, volleyball, and tennis with each team allowed to offer up to 15, 12, and 8 scholarships respectively at the D1 level.

The number of scholarships also varies by NCAA division. Division II schools have fewer scholarships than Division I, and Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships, instead offering academic or other forms of financial aid.

However, remember that having more total scholarships doesn't necessarily mean it's easier to get one. Many factors can influence your odds of landing a sports scholarship, including your skill level, the level of competition in your sport, the location of the college, and the specific recruiting needs of the team. Also, many scholarships are split among several athletes in many sports, so a "full-ride" scholarship is quite rare.

Selectivity also plays a huge role. Football and basketball may have a large number of scholarships, but they're also extremely competitive due to the number of athletes playing these sports.

So while it's valuable to be informed about which sports offer the most scholarships, it's important to focus on the sports you truly excel at and enjoy rather than selecting a sport solely based on scholarship availability.