There are over 3,700 accredited post-secondary education institutions in the USA. Understanding the landscape, and where you fit into it, is the first step on the pathway.
Two-year vs. four-year institutions
- Colleges (NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA): award a bachelor's degree at the completion of four years of full-time study.
- Junior Colleges (NJCAA): award associate degrees at the completion of two years of full-time study.
Institutions can be public or private, there is no distinction in quality between the two. Private institutions usually charge higher tuition fees.
A US bachelor's degree requires four years of study. The first two years are general study; the remaining two focus on your major. (In Australia, many bachelor degrees can be obtained in three years.)
Junior Colleges provide only the first two years of a general college education. On completion of those two years, you can transfer to a four-year school to complete your degree, or transfer your studies to an Australian university.
A great place to start your research: bigfuture.collegeboard.org. Filter by:
- Two-year or four-year colleges
- Sports
- Athletic scholarships
- Areas, majors, subjects of study
How US college sport is organised
Three different bodies organise US college sport, each with its own rules and regulations.
NCAA. National College Athletic Association
The NCAA governs four-year college and university members' sports programs. This is the premier college competition in the USA, with three divisions (I, II and III). Division I being the most prestigious.
- Division I and II can offer athletic scholarships.
- Division III cannot offer athletic scholarships, but can offer other forms of financial assistance.
Some of the most prestigious colleges in the USA participate in the NCAA. Stanford, Harvard, Duke, UCLA. While an athletic scholarship can help with the cost, a student-athlete must first meet the academic requirements of the college.
NJCAA. National Junior College Athletic Association
Junior or community colleges offer two-year courses, governed by the NJCAA. NJCAA colleges compete in three divisions, each with its own scholarship rules:
- Division I, may offer full athletic scholarships.
- Division II, limited to tuition, fees and books.
- Division III, cannot provide athletically related financial assistance.
There are 510 institutions that are members of the NJCAA. Their site has a search function to find each college's details.
If you enter an NJCAA school as a student-athlete, you must stay at the school for two years. After that, you may be eligible to be a student-athlete for two more years at a four-year institution.
If you enter an NJCAA school as an academic student (i.e. not on an athletic scholarship), you can transfer after one year, leaving three years of NCAA eligibility. (Standard NCAA eligibility is four years.)
NAIA. National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
Approximately 300 colleges compete in NAIA, which has fewer recruiting restrictions and an easier application process than NCAA. NAIA schools are four-year schools with two divisions, and more than 90% of NAIA colleges offer athletic scholarships.
Next steps
Once you understand the landscape, the next steps are: read up on academic eligibility, understand how scholarships work, and start putting yourself on coaches' radars by playing on an AUSA Hoops AAU tour.