How Many Scholarships Are Available In College Sports? More Than Ever.
Starting this year, there’s more scholarships than ever available? How many more, potentially up to 100,000+ more. But, why?
College athletics has always been a balance of amateurism, opportunity, and… fighting for scholarships. However, as of July 1, 2025, a monumental shift has begun to reshape this foundation. Stemming from the "House v. NCAA" settlement, major rule changes regarding roster sizes and scholarship flexibility have officially taken effect, ushering in an entirely new era for Division I schools and, by extension, the entire college recruiting process.
Historically, college sports operated under a dual system: "headcount" sports like football and basketball offered only full scholarships up to a set limit allowed by the NCAA, while "equivalency" sports such as baseball, soccer, or track could distribute partial scholarships to multiple athletes, limited by a total scholarship equivalency. The new rules, embraced by Division I schools that opted into the settlement, have shattered this distinction. Now, all sports will function under an "equivalency" model, meaning coaches have the unprecedented flexibility to offer full, partial, or even no scholarships to student-athletes on their rosters.
Roster Size = Scholarships
The biggest change from the settlement is the removal of scholarship limits for sports. Instead, the NCAA has placed limits on how large an NCAA roster can be, and as long as schools can afford, all athletes on the team can receive scholarships. For instance, football's previous scholarship cap of 85 has been replaced by a roster limit of 105, potentially allowing schools to add 20 more scholarship players if they choose to fully fund every spot. Similarly, baseball, previously limited to 11.7 scholarships, now has a 34-player roster limit, which could translate to up to 34 scholarship players if a program has the financial means. This change alone has the potential to dramatically increase the total number of scholarships available across college sports, with some estimates suggesting a doubling of available scholarships, particularly for women.
For high school athletes navigating the recruiting landscape, this means a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, the increased flexibility in scholarship allocation could open doors for more athletes to receive some form of financial aid, even if it's not a full ride. Previously, a student-athlete in an equivalency sport might have received a very small percentage of a scholarship, or none at all, making college participation financially daunting. Now, a larger pool of partial scholarships could make college athletics accessible to a wider range of talent.
However, the shift also introduces complexities. While roster limits have increased for many sports, they are still finite. This means that while more athletes can be on scholarship, it also implies a potential decrease in traditional walk-on opportunities. If a coach can now offer partial scholarships to more players up to the roster limit, they may be less inclined to carry non-scholarship athletes who, in the past, might have earned a spot through sheer determination and performance. The competition for any roster spot, scholarship or not, is likely to intensify. Some programs like Washington State’s track and field program has already announced the removal of some events on their team in order to meet the new roster requirements.
There’s no doubt that wealthier institutions with large athletic budgets may be able to maximize the new rules, offering more scholarships and deeper rosters, potentially widening the competitive gap. Less resourced programs will face tough decisions about how to allocate their funds, balancing the desire to fully scholarship every rostered athlete with the realities of their financial capabilities. This could lead to a greater disparity between programs based on financial backing.
