Tips for International Student-Athletes | Best Global Universities

Starting out as a young basketball player, it was always Kjell de Graaf’s goal to play at the collegiate level in the U.S. A native of Rotterdam, Netherlands, de Graaf, who is 6 feet, 10 inches tall, says earning an athletic scholarship was something he worked hard toward.

“Apart from going pro, college is the highest level you can play at while continuing your education, which was also very important to me,” de Graaf says. “After a long road, I ended up receiving a full athletic scholarship to play at NJIT.”

At the New Jersey Institute of Technology, he received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in chemical engineering and is pursuing a second graduate degree in materials engineering. He’s also doing research.

While competition is fierce to receive a full scholarship, more than 1,000 U.S. colleges and universities offer opportunities for talented student-athletes to play for a school team as a way to fund their education, according to EducationUSA, a network of advising centers supported by the U.S. Department of State.

Here are five things prospective international students should do when seeking an athletic scholarship in the U.S.

Experts advise prospective international students to start early and excel at their chosen sport to gain a scholarship to study in the U.S. EducationUSA, for instance, advises starting to research options 18 to 24 months prior to the date students plan to attend a U.S. college.

This also means getting good grades in high school and possibly taking standardized admissions tests like the SAT or ACT, and English language proficiency tests like the TOEFL and IELTS.

“International student-athletes have a lot of details to sort out when they’re looking to play their sport at a U.S. college or university,” says Kyle Winters, recruiting manager for NCSA College Recruiting, a network that helps high school athletes with their goal of playing at the collegiate level.

The admissions and eligibility processes are two different things, Winters explains, with the former being the usual process all students go through when applying to U.S. universities.

“In order for a student-athlete to play at a U.S. college or university, they need to both be recruited and gain admission to that university,” says Winters, a pitcher in high school who earned a full-ride scholarship to the University of New Mexico and eventually played professional baseball.

The eligibility process refers to standards and requirements student-athletes must meet to get recruited or to play at the college level, Winter says, qualifiers that are set by the U.S. organizations that govern college athletics.

“The NCAA academic eligibility is based on a combination of SAT or ACT test scores and your core course GPA,” Winters says. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, is a U.S. nonprofit that regulates and administers intercollegiate athletics.

“Those core courses are a specific combination of math, English and other courses that ensure student-athletes are taking regular high school courses. International student-athletes need to ensure their academics will meet those requirements,” he says.

In the U.S., three organizations set the requirements and rules for college sports. More than 24,000 international student-athletes are enrolled and competing at NCAA schools, and thousands more study and compete at National Association Intercollegiate Athletics, or NAIA, and National Junior College Athletic Association, or NJCAA, schools across the U.S.

The NAIA represents mostly private, smaller colleges and universities, while the NJCAA represents community colleges. The NCAA is the largest organization that governs intercollegiate athletics, and does so across three divisions: Division I and II, which consist of large public universities, and Division III, which typically represents smaller private colleges. Division I sports are the most competitive.

Holly Roepke, director of athletics and recreation at Grinnell College in Iowa, says any international student who wants to play sports in any of the three NCAA divisions needs to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

“Athletic scholarships are offered at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels, as well as at the NAIA and NJCAA levels. NCAA Division III colleges do not offer athletic scholarships, but nearly 80% of Division III student-athletes receive some kind of financial aid,” Winters says.

For example, the New Jersey Institute of Technology is a NCAA Division I school and has 348 student-athletes, 71 of whom are international from 30 different countries, says Lenny Kaplan, associate vice president and director of athletics at NJIT. Sixty-three of the international student-athletes receive some form of athletic scholarship.

Winters says international student-athletes need to get exposure to college coaches through camps or showcases. Often hosted by universities or brands and businesses that specialize in a sport, camps and showcases allow student-athletes to highlight their skills and be seen by numerous coaches.

Before emailing coaches at U.S. universities, prospective international student-athletes should research schools carefully, Kaplan says. Students should ask whether a school offers full or partial athletic scholarships for a particular sport, admission and academic requirements and whether other international student athletes are at the school, Kaplan says.

Roepke says students can “distinguish themselves with an understanding of the institution, highlight knowledge of the team and program, and how they see themselves on the team or at the institution.”

She says it’s important to connect with the coach and coaching staff and send film, such as highlight and skills videos.

Athletic scholarships are often decided by the coaching staff, experts say. They seek out athletes through the recruiting process and decide how much scholarship money to award them.

More than $3.8 billion in athletics scholarships is distributed annually by NCAA Division I and II schools to more than 195,000 student-athletes, per the NCAA.

While optional, working with a recruiting agency that has experience sending student-athletes to U.S. schools can be an advantage as it “allows the student to focus on competing while the agency assists with exposure and the challenges that come along with the recruiting process,” says Jon Lowery, head men’s soccer coach at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

Kylie Misdorp, a tennis player from South Africa, says NCSA College Recruiting’s services helped guide her through each step, such as reaching out to coaches with introductory emails and initiating conversations.

“The recruiting process can be very perplexing when it comes to all the rules and requirements,” Misdorp says.

Through the process, she was able to form a bond with a tennis coach at Eckerd College in Florida, who she says noticed her efforts and went out of his way to make her dream possible. Misdorp is a junior at Eckerd majoring in biology and psychology, and has received both athletic and academic scholarships.

“To feel that connection from so many miles away, I knew I was making the right decision regardless of the scholarship,” Misdorp says.

Getting noticed can be tough. However, de Graaf says earning a spot on the Netherlands youth national basketball team allowed him to play against top talent from all over Europe and get noticed by teams and scouts. That led to a bigger opportunity to move to the Canary Islands, Spain, to play for the Canarias Basketball Academy, which he says helped put him on the radar of U.S. recruiters.

For all athletes, de Graaf says, it boils down to working tirelessly on their skills and getting better in their sport.

“Only with the right mindset will you be able to get there,” de Graaf says. “Work your way up and try to get yourself out there.”