Total Number of High School Football Players = 1,086,627
There are roughly
310,465 high school seniors playing football
C.F.P. (126 total schools)
Total Number of C.F.P. Scholarships = 10,710 (85 scholarship limit per team)
Estimated Total Number of Scholarships per Recruiting Class: 25 (3,000 total 25x120)
That means
0.96% of high school seniors will earn a C.F.P. scholarship.
Total Number of C.F.P. athletes = 14,855 (118 average per team)
F.C.S. (123 total schools)
Total Number of F.C.S. Scholarships = 7,749 (63 scholarship limit per team pending conference)
Estimated Total Number of Scholarships per Recruiting Class: 25 (2,500 total 20x125)
That means
0.80% of high school seniors will earn a F.C.S. scholarship.
Note that at the F.C.S. level they can provide partial scholarships so the percentage is actually slight higher.
Total Number of F.C.S. athletes = 12,388 (101 average per team)
Division 2 (163 total schools)
Total Number of Division 2 Scholarships = 5,868 (36 scholarship limit per team pending conference)
Estimated Total Number of Scholarships per Recruiting Class = 9 (1,467 total 9x163)
That means you have
0.47% of high school seniors will earn a Division 2 scholarship.
Note that at the Division 2 level they can provide partial scholarships so the percentage is actually higher.
Total Number of Division 2 athletes = 17,752 (109 average per team)
Division 3 (240 total schools)
Division 3 does not offer scholarships
Total Number of Division 3 athletes = 24,322
Totals
Taking all scholarship possibilities you have about a
2.24% chance of earning a scholarship.
Only
6.5% of high school football players will ever play college football.
The above percentage includes: C.F.P., F.C.S., D2, D3, N.A.I.A., N.J.C.A.A.
Of the
6.5% of high school football players that go on to play college football roughly just
3.25% of them will end up
using all four years of their college football eligibility.
Want to go further? How about the N.F.L.?
N.C.A.A. Seniors Playing Football = 15,588
Football Players Scouted by the N.F.L. = 6,500
Football Players Invited to the Combine = 350
Football Players Drafted = 256
Rookie Players Making an N.F.L. Team = 300
Percentage of Players N.C.A.A. to N.F.L. = 1.6% (Overwhelming majority are C.F.P. players)
N.F.L. Players
Reaching Year Four Career = 150
2014 N.F.L. Minimum Salary = $420,000… after taxes is roughly $252,000
So… Of the 6.5% of high school seniors who go on to play college football and then the 1.6% that will reach the N.F.L. you are not going to have a long enough career to live off the money you make playing in the League. What does this all mean? YOUR EDUCATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE GAME OF FOOTBALL!
