MHS Athletic Photos

 THE COLLEGE-BOUND STUDENT ATHLETE

The application path for the student athlete is often more complex than for a non student athlete.  These young men and women will be completing college applications while also working with recruiters, talking to coaches, attending events and visits, and continuing to excel in their sport. The earlier that they let us know that this is a path of interest, the better we can assist them. Please read through College Board's College Planning Checklist(Opens in a new window) for Student Athletes which lists what to do freshman through senior year to prepare for college athletics.

As a general guideline, students interested in participating in athletics at a Division I or II college or university are required to meet academic guidelines as established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), an organization that governs and enforces rules on athletic eligibility, recruiting, and financial aid (NCAA Member Schools(Opens in a new window)). Another governing association is the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There are about 250 schools which have membership in the NAIA (NAIA Member Schools(Opens in a new window)). These schools tend to have relatively small student enrollments. Most NAIA schools do offer some athletic scholarships. For students who plan to attend community college and are hoping to receive athletic scholarships, they will follow the guidelines set by the National Junior College Athletic Association(NJCAA). The NJCAA athletics differ by division in the same way as NCAA athletics, with schools who will fall into D1, D2 and D3 categories and may be able to offer full or partial scholarships (NJCAA Member Schools(Opens in a new window)). More information can be found in the respective tabs for each of these organizations.