Scholarship & ‘Full Ride’ Info

*The information below is courtesy of college soccer recruiting expert, Don Williams, who is the co-founder of recruiting company SRUSA.

When people talk about FULL RIDES to college for soccer players, it is important to know that situation is rare.

Some of the confusion comes when discussing what a FULL RIDE actually is. A full ride means:

• Tuition paid
• Books paid
• Fees paid
• Housing paid
• Food paid

Full rides are more common in NCAA DI:

• American football
• Basketball
• Women’s Volleyball
• Women’s gymnastics
• Women’s tennis

All other DI and D2 Sports are “equivalency” sports which means that coaches usually give out partial scholarships to spread them around to more of the team.

Full rides based on athletics alone are rare.

Academic financial aid + athletic financial aid = larger scholarships. It’s called Stacking.

Not all schools can stack both but many can so this is something you should talk to the coach/school about.