Can You Get a Cheerleading Scholarship to Cheer in College?

At the collegiate level cheerleading squads ARE a sporting event unto themselves. Squads provide support for championship teams, they provide entertainment for throngs of fans, and at the same time they are key in crowd control and sporting event management. But what about some scholarship dough?

Unfortunately cheerleading, as of yet, is not one of the NCAA, NAIA or the NJCAA athletic teams. So no massive scholarship cash flowing from those sources. But cheering is a highly demanding sport, nevertheless. Believe it or not, there are some very good sources for cheerleading scholarship money.

Scholarships for College Athlete/Cheerleaders

Without cheerleaders few sports would be the same. Today’s modern cheer squad is often a mix of men and women, all of whom are top caliber athletes.

One of the very best sources for cheerleading scholarship money is your own college or university. Be warned getting a spot on a top cheer squad can be as daunting and competitive as trying to land a spot on a top football team. Cheer squads for the leading college sports teams often participate in competitive activities well beyond those associated with cheerleading a football or basketball game.

Schools with funding to offer cheer scholarships may only have modest awards, may offer to help team members pay for uniforms and may help with offsetting costs associated with team travel.

Expect that to make it onto a competitive cheerleading squad that you’ll have to try-out or audition, in some cases as much as any other athlete.

  • Waldorf College in Iowa makes no pretense about how rigorous the team tryouts are or that they consider this activity as demanding as any sport. The schools’ scholarships are renowned among cheer squads. Any cheerleader lucky enough to earn a spot on the Waldorf squad qualifies for a modest scholarship.
  • Fort Hays State University not only offers some cheerleaders $1,000 housing discount, but also picks up the tab for all team uniforms and annual summer cheerleading camp tuitions. This assumption of fees is akin to scholarship cash.
  • In-state cheerleaders on the Oklahoma Panhandle State University team earn the chance for some of the $1,000 in scholarship money allotted the team each semester. Out of state cheerleaders with solid academic records also qualify for some scholarship discounts—applied to tuition.
  • The University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota expects a lot from its cheer squads. In fact the school maintains TWO teams—football and basketball—and a rigorous schedule. Some athletes participate on both. The more involved and engaged the more potential to earn scholarship money.

These are just a few of the potential cheerleading scholarships you might find.