5 Cheerleading Scholarships to Apply For

The age-old debate of whether or not cheerleading should be considered a sport is still in full swing. But good news, many colleges and universities are also starting to give scholarships for cheer. While many cheerleading scholarships won’t cover your entire tuition, any money you don’t have to repay means taking out fewer loans. Here are 5 cheerleading scholarships you should be applying for if you’re planning on cheering in college:

1. Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway

Amount: Varies

Deadline: TBD for 2020 (Opens mid-August)

If you’re a high school student-athlete who wants to continue your education, then check out the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway. As long as you aren’t playing a sport in college currently, any student of at least 18 years old can enter. To enter, you fill out their online application, answer a few short questions, and submit a video based on Dr. Pepper’s requirements.

2. Marc E. Lewis Youth Scholarship

Amount: $5,000

Deadline: March 20, 2020

For high school cheerleaders or student-athletes in Massachusetts who plan on going to college and are heavily involved in their local LGBTQ+ community, considering applying for the Marc E. Lewis Youth Scholarship. This scholarship focuses on making high school athletics safer and more inclusive for LBGTQ+ student-athletes.

No origination fees or prepayment penalties

Fixed rates from 3.70% - 8.75% APR with auto-debit

Learn More

3. Sports Unlimited Scholarship

Amount: $1,000

Deadline: April 30, 2020

To qualify for this scholarship, high school seniors, college freshmen, or college sophomores need to write a 500-1000 word inspirational essay. The organization gives out different prompts every year, so check out their website to see what this year’s prompt is. To give you an idea of the prompts, a past essay topic was, “what’s the biggest problem in high school sports and why?”

4. Positive Coaching Alliance: Triple-Impact Competitor Scholarship

Amount: Varies

Deadline: May 31, 2020

The Triple-Impact Competitor Scholarship targets high school juniors currently involved in a sports team, whether that’s at school or through a local club. Additionally, students need to have at least a 2.5 GPA. Wondering why the scholarship is named Triple-Impact? Well, it refers to what the scholarship wants to you to achieve: better yourself, bettering your teammates, and bettering the sport through personal mastery, leadership, and honoring the game.

The application must also include a statement from a school administrator and a testimonial from a coach.

5. Individual College Scholarships

Amounts & Deadlines: Varies by school

The best place to look for scholarships for collegiate-level cheerleading is the college or university itself. As previously mentioned, cheer scholarships are becoming more common, but are not yet the norm. For a list of schools that offer cheer scholarships, visit this page.

Looking for more cheerleading scholarships? Institutions with a history of winning competitions offer some of the best cheerleading scholarships. Colleges or universities known for sending excellent squads to dominate the competition have the most money to award. Additionally, talk to your high school counselor, college’s financial aid office, or your coaches. Otherwise, look online and on scholarship databases. Generally, there are plenty of cheerleading scholarships out there for you to apply for. There’s also no such thing as applying for too many scholarships, as long as you meet all the requirements.

 

Lender	Rates (APR)	Eligibility
	5.50%-16.12%* Variable 3.99%-15.61%* Fixed	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT CITIZENS
	5.54% - 15.70% Variable 3.99% - 15.49% Fixed	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT SALLIE MAE
	4.63% - 17.99% Variable 3.49% - 17.99% Fixed	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT CREDIBLE
	6.00% - 13.75% Variable 3.99% - 13.75% Fixed	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT LENDKEY
	5.66% - 14.72% Variable 3.69% - 14.56% Fixed	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT ASCENT
	3.70% - 8.75% Fixed	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT ISL
	5.62% - 16.85% Variable 3.69% - 16.49% Fixed	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT EARNEST
	5.00% - 14.22% Variable 3.69% - 14.22% Fixed	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT ELFI

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