For players, college ice hockey scholarships can come in a few different flavors.
There’s full athletic scholarships, partials, academic, and financial aid type scholarships as well.
In this post, we’ll break these down for you so you have a clear understanding.
We’ll start out with the most recognized type of scholarship at the NCAA level for ice hockey.
A full NCAA scholarship.
When you hear the term “full ride”, this is the type of scholarship that’s referred to here. On a full ride for ice hockey players, everything from the student-athlete’s total tuition, fees, room + board, and other expenses (example: books) can be covered. With how expensive higher education is today at many universities, a full ride scholarship can save players (and their families) a large sum of money.
University costs for tuition, room and board, and added expenses at most schools can easily range between $60,000 on the lowest end to well over $150,000+ over the course of 4 years.
The landscape today for earning these scholarships is as competitive as ever. All top-tier junior, prep school, European elite, and now many major-junior players are all vying for full ride scholarships.
You won’t earn one just by going through the motions or blending in (much more on this below).
At the NCAA D1 hockey level, teams can offer a total of 26 scholarships in total.
This is up from the previous 18 scholarships number that had been in place for many years.
Ice hockey at the NCAA level falls under an equivalency sport.
What’s that mean?
In short, that means teams can split up scholarships a bit as they see fit — which allows them to divvy up scholarships.
An important part to note here is that even though the max limit for full scholarships is 26 per hockey team, not all programs (and schools) even have the budget to be able to allocate this to student-athletes at their school.
To paint the picture… think of it like being allowed to spend up to $26,000... but some schools might only have $15,000 or $18,000 in the bank.
The scholarship cap isn’t the problem, the program’s budget is.
Some NCAA ice hockey programs at the D1 level have the budgets for 26 full rides easy… but others don’t. In many instances where teams can’t afford the full 26 cap, you’ll see NCAA hockey programs mix and match full scholarships and partial scholarships to balance them in helping recruit the best players they can while also working within the program's financial budget.
Following full ride scholarships, you have partial hockey scholarships.
There’s more flavors to these based on what we mentioned above
Depending on the program, a partial scholarship can range in how much is covered. Though it’s not a full ride scholarship, the benefits of a solid partial scholarship can save players and families many tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a college hockey career.
These types of scholarships are much more common and attainable than most realize (before going through the process) and many players/families don’t know about them.
Academic scholarship awards + grants fall outside of athletics, but they’re important to touch on for a number of reasons.
Academic scholarships for athletes can often pair well with partial scholarships at the NCAA D1 tier if your grades are up to it.
At the NCAA D3 level of hockey, academic scholarships and grants can make a big impact in terms of a player getting help to cover the cost of college.
Different universities have different setups in terms of how they can award these and who receives them requirement-wise, but they’re important to mention.
In addition to athletic and academic scholarships that we've covered above, many NCAA programs (and universities across the country in general) also offer need-based financial aid to help make college more affordable.
If this section doesn't apply to you, scroll below to the next article.
Need-based financial aid is not at all tied to a hockey player's athletic ability — it's tied to a family’s financial situation (among other factors).
For prospective student-athletes (and their parents) who want to explore this once there are college teams who are interested, you'll generally submit a free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): https://www.usa.gov/fafsa. Doing so will allow you to determine potential eligibility (or not) for federal, state, or grants/loans based on your specific circumstance.
There's different financial aid based on a number of variables from family income level, assets, cost to attend the school, and so on.
For those who need it, need-based financial aid can make a significant difference in helping players/families to help cover tuition, housing, food/gas, and other necessary costs that come along with being an NCAA student-athlete.
Every NCAA school’s resources and financial aid policies will naturally vary, therefore, it’s important for players (and families) to research this at the right time (usually once college teams are showing interest).
That way, if a school might be a good fit, you can communicate with both the ice hockey coaching staff and the school’s financial aid office to understand what assistance may (or may not) be available for you based on your circumstance.
Now that we have a better understanding of the various hockey scholarships you (or your player) may be eligible for, it's time to dig in and understand how the college hockey recruiting process works.
Let's jump into Recruiting Process 101 here.