Baseball Scholarship Rules

Scholarship Numbers

Each year, Division I college baseball programs have a maximum of 11.7 scholarships to award across an entire baseball team, with lower divisions having fewer scholarships to offer. The value of each scholarship is irrelevant to the number available. For this reason, selecting a college is very much a financial decision for each player. For example, a quarter scholarship at "State College" might leave the student-athlete with $30,000 worth of debt upon graduation, while a quarter scholarship a "Private University" might leave a player with $120,000 of debt.

Given that the typical college baseball program has more than 11.7 players on its roster, it is impossible to fully fund every player's education. Thus, baseball managers must decide the most beneficial way to divide scholarships. In most cases, the largest scholarships are reserved for the most elite and highly coveted recruits. With scholarship numbers limited, many baseball programs rely heavily on walk-on players who join without the benefit of any scholarship assistance.

The NCAA requires that counters -- players that receive financial aid and count against scholarship restrictions -- receive a scholarship valued at no less than a quarter of a full scholarship. However, the NCAA also mandates that a baseball team can have no greater than 27 counters. Thus, a Division I baseball program has up to 27 counters to divide the equivalent of 11.7 full scholarships worth of aid. An exception exists for schools that base scholarship awards on financial need. In these instances, the minimum of a quarter scholarship is nullified.

Prospective scholarship student-athletes have two signing periods during which they can sign a national letter of intent. The letter of intent serves as an NCAA-binding one-year agreement that guarantees a school will provide a scholarship to the prospective student-athlete, while the athlete agrees to attend the school. Baseball has a week-long early signing period during the month of November. The second signing period lasts from April to the first of August.