Frequently Asked Questions

Each university has a wide variety of degree options and majors you can choose from. In general, undergraduate education in the United States can be seen as a more “general” and “broad” education system where you will be exposed to many general education courses compared to the European undergraduate system which tends to be more specific and specialized.

You will be fully committed to your respective sport and will have to build your class schedule around the practice and game schedule. Each school and each sport has different set practice times every day, which you shouldn’t miss. Regarding games, professors are aware that you are a student-athlete and representing the university and hence will usually accommodate missing lectures and possibly exams.

Generally failing a class is always -suboptimal-. However, failing a class can not only look bad on your academic transcript but can also have consequences on your athletic eligibility. Remember, the NCAA has certain academic minimum thresholds that need to be maintained in order for you to be able to compete. That being said, your coaches and academic support staff will do everything they can to help you so that this scenario does not occur.

There are an abundance of reasons why studying in the USA is beneficial. One of the main reasons why you are on this page is that you will be able to represent your university in a varsity sport and be among the select few within the student population to do so. You will be exposed to all the experiences that a “regular” student would have, while on top of experiencing the exclusivity of being a student-athlete. Apart from that, you will be exposed to a diverse set of people in a completely new environment and be able to enjoy personal growth from this.

A regular undergraduate degree in the United States is 4 years. Generally, the first two years are used to taking general education courses to get exposure to a wide range of disciplines, while trying to find your biggest interest to then specialize for the remaining 2 years. A graduate master's degree is usually 1 or 2 years.

A degree from a US institution will be accredited worldwide. The reputation of the individual university will determine a higher or lower total value.

Please refer to our What are the Requirements? page and click on your country to inform yourself about the differences.

An athletic scholarship is a financial subsidy granted by the university given to an individual athlete for reasons including athletic achievements and quality. This enables students who have the academic qualification to attend a university for lower tuition fees. You are required (but also have the honor) to represent the university in your given sport and receive an abundance of benefits while being a student-athlete. In return, you receive lower tuition fees, support for books & equipment, and potentially dorms and meals. To find out more about scholarships, please visit our What are Scholarships? page.

An academic scholarship is based on a similar concept to an athletic scholarship, however, the criteria for attaining an academic scholarship include academic achievements and recognition. Many universities offer a mix of both academic and athletic scholarships to maximize the potential scholarship value for the student-athlete. To find out more about scholarships, please visit our What are Scholarships? page.

This depends on the athletic and academic achievements of the student-athlete. You will never receive cash in terms of a scholarship. The scholarship is applied to certain costs associated with studying at the university and will be deducted from that directly.

Scholarships are not the only way you can finance your studies. Most student-athletes actually get their studies financed by their parents or take out individual student loans. The latter might be more unattractive and have a large opportunity cost for most, however, it can allow someone to study at their dream university.

Universities value their athletic programs very highly, especially their biggest sports including football and basketball. Ultimately, college athletics is about making money and promoting the brand of the university to get more prestige and more student to enroll at the university. In order to achieve that, universities are willing to offer scholarships to high-level student-athletes to represent the university in a given sport.

Elite Scholarships will assist you in your journey to getting a scholarship. We only work together with high level athletic and/or academic prospective talents and connect these with the best universities in the USA. The process for European student-athletes can be very long and difficult, hence why working together with us is advantageous. If you think you fulfill our recruiting criteria, let us know here.

Yes, it can. Scholarships are usually only binding for one academic year and are renewed every year. In normal circumstances, the scholarship is renewed every year. However, reasons like changes in the coaching staff, changes in program funding, and losing eligibility can lead to scholarships being taken away.

Under usual circumstances, scholarships are valid for one academic year. Renewals are common and discussions take place at the end of the academic year. Ideally, scholarships will cover your entire degree and also additional costs associated with getting your degree.

In general, scholarships cover costs including tuition, housing and meals, and books and equipment. You can find out more information about what scholarships entail on our “What are Scholarships” page and use the interactive slider to see how a scholarships can affect your finances!

Not every student-athlete on the team is able to receive an athletic scholarship. Each NCAA division and sport has specific rules on how many athletic scholarships can be awarded per team. Please look at our What are Scholarships? page and individual “Sport” pages to see how many scholarships are awarded per team.

Absolutely! In fact, most student-athletes within the NCAA do not receive any athletic scholarship. The technical jargon used for these student-athletes is “walk-on”. There is no immediate difference between a “walk-on” and a student-athlete on scholarship. Both enjoy the same benefits and are both also regular students at the university. However, your academic and athletics skills need to be on a similar level to those on an athletic scholarship.

Getting started is probably the hardest first step to do. There are many unknowns and it is a long-term commitment that requires a lot of hard work and self-discipline. The earlier you start with the process, the better. On average, most prospective student-athletes start their preparations in grade 10 in high school. For a more detailed description of the process visit our Timeline/Process page.

Being part of the Elite Scholarship family requires specific prerequisites on both the athletic and academic sides. Compared to other agencies we hand-pick our prospective student-athletes that we partner with. We will be actively recruiting at various sports events and school events. However, if you want to get on our radar for an initial assessment please fill out this form.

The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is a standardized college admissions test constructed by the College Board. This test aims to provide college admission officers with a standardized test score and comparison measure for all applicants. The test will cover areas such as mathematics, logical reasoning, grammar, and reading comprehension. Likewise, the American College Testing (ACT) is a similar standardized college admissions test to the SAT. Most universities do not prefer one over the other.

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a standardized language test designed to test non-native’s English abilities. Modules in this test include listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Universities usually have minimum thresholds that you need to pass in order to be deemed ready to study in the USA. Similarly, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) can also be completed instead of the IELTS. Both tests are very similar.

Yes, we will provide you with resources that will be helpful in studying for these tests.

The NCAA has strict rules on who is allowed to play college sports. The two pillars that the NCAA looks at are academic thresholds and amateurism. You need to have the necessary minimum grades to compete and have to be deemed as an  “amateur” athlete before coming to the USA. You can find out more on our What are the Requirements? page.

There are two types of overall costs that you need to be aware of for college athletics recruiting. The first ones are costs related to marketing yourself in preparation for studying in the USA. These costs include test registration, visa, applications, and our registration fee. Then when you successfully receive an offer to study, costs at the university will depend on your scholarship amount received. Costs incurred in the USA include tuition, housing, books, and living expenses. We then also charge an enrollment fee for our services. To get a more detailed view of the costs please visit our Home page and "Scholarships in the USA” pages.

The majority of international recruiting is determined through highlight videos. We provide additional insights such as statistics on your individual competitions and strength & conditioning benchmarks to help the coaches get a better idea of your abilities. Additionally, sometimes prospective student-athletes personally participate in summer camps to showcase their talent in front of the coaches. We are working on some customized solutions and do let us know if you are interested!

To summarize - We will be by your side throughout the entire recruiting process and beyond to ensure your abilities and ambitions fit perfectly with the chosen academic institution. You can view our entire process and the services included on the Packages and Timeline/Process pages.

After we identify you as a prospective student-athlete under the Elite Scholarships criteria and you have chosen to work with us, we charge an initial registration fee of €699. We will then start with the entire recruiting process such as creating your online advanced player profile, editing your highlight video, implementing your scouting and strength & conditioning report, marketing you to college coaches, assisting you with your standardized test preparation, and much more! This fee is purposely kept relatively low in order to minimize the financial risk for you if you decide not to complete the entire recruitment process or do not find a suitable university. We invest a far greater value of time and money in marketing your abilities to college coaches than the registration fee and it is in place to cover our basic costs. The registration fee is non-refundable. Only after you have successfully received and signed your study offer at an American university we will charge you our enrollment fee as this marks the successful completion of assisting in placing you at an American university. Throughout your time in the United States, we will always support you with any queries, for example, potential transfer requests or professional ambitions, all included in your one-time enrollment fee. To find out all the services we do and the entire process visit our Packages and Timeline/Process pages.

Being an IB student and completing the MYP program and IB program will give you a sound academic profile. Coaches are more inclined to recruit students that possess the necessary minimum academic thresholds that will yield NCAA eligibility and in general, also prefer students with better grades to raise the team’s GPA. 

The service agreement contract can be canceled at any time by any party, subject to specific cancellation policies. 

There are no direct negative consequences. If you are not satisfied with the university and athletic programs offering you a place to study, you definitely do not need to accept it. We want you to be completely happy with your choice and would recommend not going somewhere you do not want to. In terms of our service fees, we would not charge you the enrollment fee as you were not placed at a university. Specifics will be outlined in the corresponding service agreement contract.

This is possible! The official term for this is “walk-on”, which is not uncommon. Actually, the majority of college student-athletes are walk-ons, where they are officially part of the specific athletic team but do not receive an athletic scholarship. There is no difference between an athlete that receives an athletic scholarship and that does not. There are both advantages and disadvantages to being a walk-on and should definitely be a consideration for you if you are able to.

The level of financial support you need to be able to give your child varies based on the scholarships he/she receives. Just being a student-athlete either with or without a scholarship brings vast benefits and value. However, costs may include tuition fees, housing and meals, and books and equipment. To find out more information about potential university costs please visit the What are Scholarships? page. Also, costs associated with leading up to university will most likely also need to be covered by the parents. To get an overview of these costs please visit our What are the requirements page.

College athletics in the USA is very professional. Most competitions are aired on television stations including ESPN, CBS, and NBC. You will have plenty of opportunities to view the competition of your child with professional broadcasting!

Each individual university will provide you with emergency contact details that you may contact in case of an emergency.

You can visit your child whenever and as often as you like. There are no rules!

Almost every university has doctors and medical professionals on campus. Every student-athlete is automatically enrolled in the university athletics health insurance. Most college athletic programs also have sports medicine departments that take specifically take intensive care of the student-athletes.

Part of going to the USA is for your child to learn how to be independent and take up responsibilities by himself/herself. American universities have amazing support personnel available if your child has any needs.

Each university has a different system of housing students. Most universities offer dorms that are student accommodations specifically designed for students of that university and are within walking distance or even directly on campus. Most sports programs arrange housing for their student-athletes with teammates.

This depends on the individual insurance policies of the university. Each student-athlete is insured with health insurance and during travel as part of the university athletics insurance. However, each university also has individual “student-only” health insurance requirements that need to be fulfilled. We recommend having an international health insurance or going with the health insurance offered by your university.

This depends on his/her academic and athletic schedule. There are various breaks in the winter, spring, and summer that can be used to travel back home. However, your child needs to be aware of any practices, games, and other potential athletic events before making travel arrangements.