Division-I NCAA rowers, on average, receive nearly as much scholarship money as Division II and NAIA rowers combined (source). Not surprising.

Division-III teams don't offer scholarship money at all because of general NCAA rules.

The short story here is that Division-I rowing is the place to be if you're looking for an athletic scholarship. But even among these coveted Div-I spots, there are almost no full rides to be found. Our advice? Keep your college financing options open.

Women rowers should be especially mindful since there's a maximum of 20 scholarship awards per team, in both Division I and II, and an average team size of 67 athletes (source). Teams are allowed to get creative with those limits since rowing is an equivalency sport—that is, they can divide scholarship awards in multiple ways while still meeting NCAA regulations. That still doesn't mean that you'll get a scholarship, though.

We know, we know…it's hard out there.