Athletic scholarships: CIS schools provided over $11.5M to student-athletes in 2010-11

OTTAWA (CIS) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced on Monday the findings of its data collection on athletic scholarships provided by Canadian universities during the course of the 2010-11 academic year.

The data reveals that in ’10-11 Canadian universities together provided $11,571,144 in athletic scholarship money to CIS student-athletes.

“CIS is delighted that student-athletes continue to receive a significant amount of financial support to pursue their academics and athletics at Canadian universities,” says Marg McGregor, chief executive officer of CIS.

“Above and beyond the athletic scholarships, there is substantial additional financial support available from universities to recognize academic success, financial need and leadership. In addition many other organizations such as Sport Canada, Swimming Canada and the Canadian Hockey League also provide significant financial assistance to CIS student-athletes.”

“Athletic scholarships play a critical role in keeping our best and brightest student-athletes at home in Canada,” adds CIS president Leo MacPherson, the director of athletics and recreation at St. Francis Xavier University. “Additionally, they play a large role in the decision making process as to which Canadian university our student-athletes attend. I applaud our CIS member institutions for their investment and commitment to growing our collective scholarship capacity.”

The average undergraduate tuition in Canada (including compulsory fees) is $5,366, a fraction of the cost of tuition south of the border.

Last year a record 2,398 CIS student-athletes (24%) achieved an academic average of 80 percent or higher while competing for their universities, demonstrating the Canadian commitment to success in the classroom as well as the playing field.

“Canadians have a tendency to be self-deprecating by nature, we are naturally humble and tend to underestimate how great we are,” says McGregor. “It’s time we stopped apologizing. The quality of Canadian universities is world class, significant financial support is available, playing time opportunities and exposure to Team Canada coaches is often better in Canada, and CIS coaches are top-notch.”

“When one considers all the factors CIS should be the destination of choice for top student-athletes.”

From the perspective of a gender comparison, in 2010-11, 58% of athletic scholarship dollars went to male student-athletes, who represent 53% of all CIS student-athletes.
Although athletic awards are provided in every CIS sport, the largest average value of an athletic scholarship to men was provided in basketball, hockey and football. For women, the largest average athletic scholarships were provided in basketball, volleyball and hockey.

The athletic scholarship data can be found at:
http://english.cis-sic.ca/information/members_info/research_stats

-CIS-