The Better Athlete Student-Athlete Scholarship is a nationwide educational scholarship program for graduating student-athletes. The inaugural funding goal is $100,000, divided equally among seven recipients.
The scholarship is in its funding and development stage. Applications are expected to close 23 May 2027. Nothing on this page is an open call for applications until the funding, financial administration, application system, and selection process are finalised.
A scholarship for graduating high school seniors who played a sport, going on to further education. It is open to athletes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, in every qualifying sport, and awards go toward approved postsecondary educational expenses.
It is not a training grant. It is not a discount on coaching. It is money for school.
Awards may not be used, directly or indirectly, for coaching, athletic training, camps, clinics, combines, lessons, coach-led programs, coach education, or payments to any coach, trainer, or affiliated business. That includes us.
We sell coaching. A scholarship that could be spent on coaching would be a marketing budget wearing a charity's clothes. This one cannot be, by rule.
An applicant must:
Homeschooled students are eligible with equivalent academic records and proof of participation in an organized sport.
The scholarship is open to athletes from all recognized sports: individual, team, recreational, club, school, and adaptive. The sport itself carries no weight in scoring.
A football player does not automatically outscore a swimmer, a gymnast, a tennis player, a wrestler, a cheer athlete, a runner, or an adaptive athlete. What reviewers evaluate is what the applicant demonstrated through participation:
Geographic location is not a scoring factor either. The committee may note the national reach of a recipient class, but it will not pass over a clearly higher-scoring applicant to obtain representation from another state.
Every application is scored out of 100 points on three factors.
| Factor | Points |
|---|---|
| Scholarship essay | 45 |
| Academic performance and GPA | 35 |
| Athletic participation, leadership, and character | 20 |
| Total | 100 |
The seven highest-ranked qualified applicants each receive approximately $14,286.
Note what carries the most weight. The essay is worth more than the GPA, and both are worth more than the athletics. This is a scholarship for student-athletes where the student half decides it.
Approved postsecondary educational expenses only. Tuition, fees, and the costs of enrolling in and attending an accredited college, university, community college, trade school, or vocational program.
It may not be used, directly or indirectly, for coaching, athletic training, camps, clinics, combines, lessons, coach-led programs, coach education, or payments to any coach, trainer, or affiliated business.
Applicants with a family, employment, financial, or selection-committee relationship to The Better Athlete or to the scholarship administrator are not eligible. The people who decide cannot be the people who benefit.
Applications must be submitted through the official online scholarship application form and received no later than:
Late, incomplete, emailed, mailed, or otherwise separately delivered applications will not be considered unless an accommodation has been approved in advance.
Proof of acceptance or enrolment may be required before an award is issued, even where it was not available at the time of applying.
An original essay of 750 to 1,000 words responding to this prompt:
The essay must be the applicant's own original work. Applicants certify that everything submitted is accurate and authentic.
It is worth 45 of the 100 available points, more than any other factor.
Proposed, and subject to the funding and systems being ready.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Applications open | 15 January 2027 |
| Application deadline | 23 May 2027, 11:59 p.m. ET |
| Eligibility and document review | 24 May to 6 June 2027 |
| Independent scoring period | 7 June to 27 June 2027 |
| Final verification | 28 June to 9 July 2027 |
| Recipients notified | 12 July 2027 |
| Public announcement | After recipients accept and consent |
| Initial payments to schools | Before the applicable autumn tuition deadline |
The scholarship program is administered by Erick Fenelus, Founder and CEO of The Better Athlete. The Program Administrator is responsible for application administration, applicant communications, document collection, eligibility verification, recordkeeping, and coordination of the selection process.
Eligible applications are scored by a review panel of at least three qualified reviewers using the published rubric above. Reviewers must disclose conflicts of interest and may not evaluate an applicant with whom they have a personal, family, coaching, employment, or financial relationship.
Nothing has been raised yet. We are publishing this from zero on purpose. The number below moves only when money has actually landed and been verified against our records, not when a page loads.
The Better Athlete has established a goal of raising $100,000 to provide seven educational scholarships to qualifying student-athletes. The scholarship is currently in its funding and development stage. No award is guaranteed until sufficient funds have been received and placed under the scholarship program's approved financial controls.
Two sources:
The exact sources and amounts will be disclosed here before applications open. If sponsors contribute, they will be named on this page.
Sponsors do not sit on the review panel, do not see applications, and have no say in selection. Scoring follows the published rubric, and the conflict of interest rules above apply to sponsors exactly as they apply to everyone else. A sponsor with a personal, family, coaching, employment, or financial relationship to an applicant does not get an exception.
Sponsorship buys a name on this page. It does not buy a scholarship for anyone.
The Better Athlete is a for-profit company, not a registered charity. A contribution to this program is not a charitable donation for tax purposes. We would rather say that plainly up front than have a sponsor discover it at tax time.
Revenue from coaching sessions, personal training, camps, clinics, lessons, or any other coach-led training service is not included in the scholarship funding program. The money does not come from coaching, and it cannot be spent on coaching.
The figure above is verified against our records and updated by hand. It is not calculated live from purchases, because refunds, chargebacks, discounts, and platform fees all change what a sale is actually worth, and a number that moved on its own would be wrong more often than right.
The $100,000 is a goal, not a guarantee, and it is honest to say what happens if we fall short.
Whatever is decided, we will publish it here before applications open, we will say publicly if the full amount is not raised, and we will state what was actually awarded.