Young Runners Can Translate Success Into a Scholarship

NCAA DIVISION III

How Many Schools: For the men, there are 373 cross country programs nationwide, 228 indoor track teams and 267 outdoor teams. For the women, there are 394 cross country programs, 234 indoor track programs and 293 outdoor track programs.

Scholarship Count: Athletic scholarships are not given at the Division III level.

Scholarship Breakdown: Financial assistance is still possible for Division III athletes, but only in the form of academic grants.

NAIA

How Many Schools: There are 204 men's cross country teams in NAIA, 132 indoor track teams and 151 outdoor track teams. On the women's side, there are 211 cross country programs, 135 indoor track teams and 157 outdoor track teams.

Scholarship Count: Like NCAA institutions, NAIA meshes cross country with track and field if the school sponsors both. In that instance, both men's and women's track and field programs have 17 scholarships to work with, which are divided among distance runners, sprinters, jumpers, etc.

Scholarship Breakdown: If an NAIA school has cross country but not track and field, that school is allowed to have five scholarships for each team (men's and women's). An NAIA student-athlete can receive financial assistance without it counting toward the team's limit if high academic standards are met. Partial scholarships are common.

NJCAA DIVISION I

How Many Schools: Junior colleges allow for both a cross country team and a half marathon team. In the NJCAA, there are 75 men's cross country teams and 26 half marathon teams. For women, there are 87 cross country teams and 27 half marathon teams. In addition, about 50 junior colleges sponsor track.

Scholarship Count: The NJCAA combines cross country and half marathon for scholarship purposes. Both men's and women's junior-college programs have 10 combined scholarships to reward for cross country and half marathon athletes.

Scholarship Breakdown: Cross country is not tied in with track and field at the NJCAA level. Track and field programs have 20 scholarships to work with at the junior-college level.

NJCAA DIVISION III

How Many Schools: There are 37 men's cross country programs in NJCAA Division III and 35 women's programs.

Scholarship Count: Like NCAA Division III, athletic scholarships are not offered at NJCAA Division III schools.

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