(Updated May 9, 2012) Want to keep playing your sport while you study for your bachelor’s degree? This possibility attracts student athletes to study in the United States when they might otherwise stay in Switzerland or Europe for university. Whether or not you are dreaming of a professional athletic career, being a recruited student athletic could earn you a sports scholarship or help get you admitted to a college or university that is very difficult to get into. International student athletes attending George Washington University in Washington, D.C. describe the benefits of taking their skills to the next level while continuing their education.
Financial Help to Attend University in the US
There is a chance you will be offered an athletic scholarship that significantly reduces your cost of attending university in the U.S., but you need to be realistic about the odds. 
Most university athletes in the US don’t receive an athletic scholarship and sports programs offering them are extremely competitive. However, many athletes receive other types of financial aid such as merit aid if they have a strong academic background, or need-based aid. If you must have significant financial aid to be able to attend university in the US, you might end up in a situation where the sports program picks you, rather than you having much choice of where you play.
Help Getting Into a Competitive Institution
If you are both an elite athlete and a very strong student, you have a “hook” that might get you admitted to a highly competitive institution where your chances would be low based on your academic qualifications alone. For example, Ivy League and other top ranked institutions, such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, receive applications every year from many more highly talented students than they have room for. But, if you meet the academic qualifications, and if the soccer coach tells the admissions department that he wants you on his team, your odds of getting in increase significantly.
Read, Read, Read!
The process of recruiting collegiate athletes is complicated and you need an overview before you decide if it is something you really want to do. Start reading on the web about how the process works and about specific colleges and universities where you might want to play. You may find that you have never heard of some of the schools most highly ranked in your sport.
This overview of Sports Scholarships and the Athletic Recruiting Process is a great introduction tailored to international students. Be sure not to miss the link to the Fulbright handout part way down the page. It contains some great information and tells you what you need to get started.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association, better known as the NCAA, enforces rules that ensure equitable competition and protect the well being of student-athletes at all member institutions. Pay attention for the following:
- Understand the three divisions in NCAA programs and how they differ. (Hint: Division I schools have the most students and support the most sports teams.)
- Find the information describing what courses you need to take in secondary school, the average marks required, and the standardized tests (SAT or ACT) you’ll need to take. (Hint: On the Resources page, there is a section for International Students.)
- Read the NCAA eligibility rules about maintaining your status as an amateur. Club teams in Europe sometimes pay athletes more than the maximum to maintain amateur status.
Consider D3
Getting paid to play is not the only reason to consider being a recruited athlete in the United States. If your family can afford for you to go to school in the U.S. without an athletic scholarship, NCAA Division III may be the way to go. In reality, there are many more student athletes playing for D3 institutions than for D1 and D2 programs combined. D3 athletic programs allow students to combine their athletic careers with first-rate academics. In men’s soccer, for example, truly excellent smaller schools such as Amherst, CalTech, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Pomona, Swarthmore, Tufts, Wesleyan (Connecticut) and Williams College all field Division III teams.
You can read more about D3 athletics and schools on collegestudentathletes.com. Another recommended website is d3recruitinghub.com.
Getting Started
By now you should have a better idea if you are interested in pursuing the option of being a recruited athlete in the United States, but assuming you are interested, where to start? Check out Part II of this series on athletic recruiting at American colleges and universities. And feel free to leave questions in the comment box below.