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Scholarship for Athletes An Ivy League education is amongst the most well-respected in the world. Such schooling also represents the most expensive and exclusive of American higher education. Ivy League schools are exceptionally costly and do not offer athletic scholarships. Even so, top-ranked American athletes are still eager to participate in Ivy League education and collegiate athletic programs.
Although many athletes look at the Ivy League team rankings and assume they do not have to be amongst the top players to get recruited, the assumption is far from reality. The Ivy League schools recruit the best American junior tennis players.
From 2007 through 2009, the top men's and women's Ivy League tennis programs have appeared in the Division 1 top 25 best recruiting classes a total of 18 times according to tennisrecruiting.net. In that three-year timeframe, the Ivy schools have recruited 11 Blue Chip Players and 43 Five Star Players. The Princeton women's class of 2008 had 3 Blue Chip recruits and was ranked number 1 overall in the country. The Ivy League schools tend to attract Blue Chip and Five Star recruits that could have played for more established college programs, but choose to attend Ivy schools for the prestigious education.
A current Ivy League coach was interviewed for this article and said "If you are a Three Star Recruit, it is very hard to get recruited by the Ivies." Players looking to play for the prestigious Ivies should not underestimate the top athletic level and highly competitive academic nature of such programs.
