In Division 3 programs there are many athletes who could have gone Division 1, but decided to go to a small campus and maintain a focus on their education. But, if you qualify for need-based financial aid or some other form of merit scholarship (e.g., for academics, arts, etc.) Division 3 Athletics Don’t Offer Scholarships. What Division 3 Schools Do Offer. In each recruiting class, there is ONLY around 11,000 to 12,000 college softball roster spots available for the millions of kids looking for an offer/scholarship.How are you getting yourself ahead of all of the other student-athletes in your recruiting class?. I know lots of people who went on to play division 3 sports at some of the top universities in the country and did … D3 schools might not offer true athletic scholarships, but to compensate for that many athletes receive tremendous financial aid packages. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), are two separate governing bodies of college athletics. Division III (also referred to as D3 or D-III) is the third-tier of NCAA athletic programs. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, more than 150,000 student-athletes receive around $2.9 billion in athletic scholarships in Divisions I and II each year. ** Softball is an equivalency sport for NCAA scholarship purposes, so partial scholarships can be awarded to meet the limit per school. The NCAA is the governing body for around 1200 schools. You'll have to go to Div. Softball is an equivalency sport which means all scholarships are not full scholarships. D-III programs do not offer athletic scholarships, but do have the ability to offer academic and need-based scholarships … 1 or 2 for softball dough (more on that in a minute). NCAA DI: 12 NCAA DII: 7.2 NAIA: 10 NJCAA (DI): 24. then you may indeed receive $ to attend a Div. Scholarship Breakdown by Division. I want to reiterate as well that Division 3 can be a great option financially. It consists of three divisions (Division I, II, and III) and oversees 23 sports. Softball Scholarships by the numbers There are 286 NCAA DI programs, 264 NCAA DII, 392 NCAA DIII, 205 NAIA and 470 NJCAA softball programs in the United States. Does it Matter? For example, in NCAA DI, coaches can divide the value of the 12 scholarships available to them between as many players as they see fit. NCAA rules prohibit athletic scholarships at Division 3 colleges. Number of College Softball Programs. Here is the breakdown by school: Although the NCAA rules changed this year to allow multi-year scholarships, in the vast majority of cases, the scholarships are issued on a yearly basis, and the school has to inform those athletes by July 1 if their scholarship will be increased, decreased, or cancelled for the upcoming year. Summer leagues are a particularly good source if you play in one or have played in one, and also a good place to gain exposure if you are going for a college-funded award. Softball Scholarships Much like in baseball, softball players have a number of options to score scholarships outside of their intended college programs. For example, an NCAA Division I school can award 18 softball players each a 2/3 scholarship and still meet the limit of 12 per school.