The truth about scholarships
How many students remember being pushed into sports and dragged to practice by their parents in the hopes of receiving that full ride to their first college pick?
According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, these aspirations are nearly impossible to achieve. Scholarships are not as high as parents and athletes had hoped, and with added GPA requirements, this can cause much pressure for those continuing into college sports.
Tom Carty, head baseball coach at GCSU, agrees with these findings.
“Many of our student athletes do not walk around campus on big scholarships or ‘full rides’ as many people think,” Carty said. “This is not big time college sports, and many of our student athletes receive little aid from the athletic department.”
According to the NCAA, the average sports scholarship, excluding football and basketball, is $8,707. Including football and basketball, the average is $10,409. For sports like baseball, the average is $2,000.
Not only are students struggling with the low amounts of scholarships, they also have to fight to win them. For example, GCSU only awards five to eight baseball scholarships, Carty said.
According to a press release sent out by the athletics department, “The Outstanding Student Scholars must have two of the following three criteria: a minimum 1,140 SAT, a 3.5 high school GPA, or be in the top 20 percent of their high school class. In addition, they must maintain a 3.0 GPA at Georgia College. There are currently 59 student-athletes receiving these scholarships.”
GCSU athletics are actually going beyond these requirements.
“Georgia College’s teams had a combined GPA of over 3.0 for an unprecedented third straight semester in the fall of 2007,” the press release said.
In an effort to expand the GCSU sports scholarship fund, the athletic department is improving their fundraising, Carty said.
One fundraiser that has worked well for the department is the annual athletic auction, complete with live and silent bidding. They also have a reverse raffle where people could win $10,000.
The event this year is April 12 at 6 p.m. in the centennial center. The theme is “Yo Ho! Yo Ho! an Auction Life for Me.” Tickets are $100, which will admit two and automatically enter you to win the $10,000. Corporate tables are $500 and seat eight people.
For ticket information, please contact Patti Weimer in the athletic office at 478-445-6341.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Apr 11 2008. Filed under Sports.
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