As an aside if anyone has a kid with a registered Quarter Horse or who rides one have them look into AQHA scholarships. Historically anyone active with a Quarter Horse or ( or even without a horse in 4-H or FFA or another organized horse organization) no matter the level or activity and having a good GPA has a pretty good chance in the great scheme of scholarships. We have had kids who have never set foot in a show arena of any kind get scholarships as well as kids who only show non AQ shows and events. You just never know and the cost to join AQHYA is nominal. The 2 big scholarships are not always won by trainers kids or show kids. Or at least it hasn’t been in the past.
https://aqhfoundation.smapply.io/res/p/Scholarship-Criteria/
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This! There are scholarships that go unawarded every year simply because people don’t ever apply for them.
I was in college and grad school back before the internet, but the student aid department on campus kept books and binders full of scholarship opportunities that, apparently, almost no one ever bothered to look at. I spent hours there in my first year of grad school pouring over those books, applied for every single one I found that I was eligible for, and collected an amazing (to me) amount of money from a variety of scholarships.
One of the organizations was local and the scholarships were restricted to residents of the county I lived in. They told me they hadn’t given a scholarship out in several years because no one had applied.
One was from a national organization but I met with and interviewed with members of the local chapter and they told me they had never been asked to meet with an applicant from their area. I lived in a university town and was attending a big state university. How had no one local ever applied for that scholarship before? It was big enough to pay a year’s tuition and books!
All the time I was in school, I repeatedly urged fellow students to go over and go through the scholarship books but I don’t think a single one of them ever did.
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All of the shows included in the pie chart are HJ. So I almost wonder if Western wasn’t included.
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In general, athletic scholarships are not really that great a deal. IF you can get one, and you have to be amazing to get one, you have probably spent more than the cost of college on your sport already, plus it comes with all kinds of restrictions on other sources of income, and you’ll be dropped if you’re hurt. Your sport will be the priority over your academics.
Many colleges provide excellent need-based aid, so after you file FAFSA, there are many opportunities to get grants up to your need level, especially if your grades and test scores are good. Of course, if your family has two six figure earners, you may not qualify for any of that.
On the various little scholarships… sometimes those are useful, sometimes not. Sometimes the application process is pretty onerous for something you may not get, and getting a job just pencils out better for the use of the time.
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Pretty much the whole reason that NCEA was created was, as others have noted, Title 9. A women’s-only sport was desired to offset the large rosters typical of male-only sports such as football.
Unless you really need the financial help and are confident that you are good enough to get a scholarship (or are going to college purely for the riding opportunity), my advice is to pick the school based on academics, not the riding team. Depending on your major, the school that wants you for their riding team may or may not be the best match academically. Some majors are available pretty much anywhere. Others may not be. Some schools may have large lectures and little interaction with the professor that may not work with all learning styles.
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If The Plaid Horse was actually involved in compiling the information and putting it into a pie chart, that would make sense, given their market niche.
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