Taking your tennis talents to the next level takes ability, commitment and hard work both on and off the court.
Recruits often find out that they have to be proactive, and they have to gather as much information as possible. One of the first steps to take is to realistically assess your abilities and see where you might fit in the college tennis puzzle.
Here are the pieces: a breakdown of how many schools play college tennis, and how many scholarships they're allowed to hand out to hungry recruits like yourself.
NCAA Division I
How Many Schools: There are 266 men's tennis programs in Division I, including powers like Georgia and Baylor. Women's tennis has 322 programs, including powerhouses like Stanford.
Scholarship Count: Men's tennis is allotted 4.5 scholarships, while women have eight scholarships.
Scholarship Breakdown: Men's tennis is allowed to divide its scholarships up, so partial scholarships are common. Women's tennis is a "head count sport" which means all scholarships are full rides.
NCAA Division II
How Many Schools: There are 168 men's programs and 255 women's programs in Division II.
Scholarship Count: Men's squads have 4.5 scholarships, and women's programs have six scholarships to work with.
Scholarship Breakdown: Division II sports commonly offer partial scholarships, and tennis is no exception.
NCAA Division III
How Many Schools: Men's tennis features 325 teams at the Division-III level, while women's tennis has 371 teams.
Scholarship Count: Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships.
Scholarship Breakdown: Though athletic grants are not offered, student-athletes can earn academic scholarships to help while they play sports.
NAIA
How Many Schools: Men's tennis has 107 participating schools, while women's tennis has 123.
Scholarship Count: Both men's and women's tennis have five scholarships to work with.
Scholarship Breakdown: Student-athletes who meet certain academic standards can be on scholarship without it counting toward the team limit.
NJCAA Division I
How Many Schools: Division-I junior college tennis has 54 men's teams and 67 women's teams.
Scholarship Count: Junior colleges are limited to nine scholarships.
Scholarship Breakdown: Of those nine, three can be full rides that include room and board. The other six are limited to tution, fees and books.
NJCAA Division III
How Many Schools: There are 26 men's teams and 25 women's teams playing NJCAA Division III tennis.
Scholarship Count: Like NCAA Division III, NJCAA Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships.
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