With the ever escalating cost of college tuition fee and other expenses, it is increasingly becoming a challenge for students to continue their college education. The competition is tough, and with the increasing diversity of students in college, you might find yourself caught between hordes of people who are after the same thing—help in financing your education.

Fortunately, with this student diversity, there is an equal diversity in available scholarships. Nowadays, there is a scholarship for any occasion, for any type of student. Aside from scholarships that come from schools (and there are many), there are a lot of organizations, companies and corporations that offer financial support to students of all types; these scholarships cover a wide range of courses and disciplines, and have various conditions for eligibility.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that there are scholarships that are geared towards men in particular. In truth, most scholarships out there are open to both men and women, (especially in this age of gender equality) so you can consider these as men’s scholarships in a way. There are scholarships for male medical students, for male teachers, for male business students-- the list goes on.

For male students who are interested in getting academic scholarships, they should be aware that most of these awards require that you maintain a certain GPA in order to be eligible. The required GPA may vary from program to program, or depend on the major you are taking.

Also, some scholarships may require that you show proof of financial aid for you to be eligible; in fact, some programs have this as their only requirement. If you are hesitant to vie for scholarships that have strict grade requirements, it might be a good idea to look for scholarships that have minimal requirements such as financial need.

Academic performance and financial need are not the only conditions for eligibility that you might encounter; some ask for extra-curricular performance, leadership skills, and other qualities. It’s up to you to gauge yourself on what your strengths are, and look for scholarships that are fitting to your strengths.

Popular Mens Scholarships

A popular source of scholarships for men is in sports. Athletic scholarships are a valuable source of financial support for students with exceptional abilities in sports, and these programs usually give “full ride” benefits to recipients; in other words, everything the star athlete needs to fund his schooling is provided for by the program. While some athletic scholarships require their students to maintain an above-average GPA, there are some that have a simple requirement: that you be the best athlete, and that you lead your team to a winning season.

If you are a serious athlete, and you think that you’re pretty good, keep in mind that the competition for these scholarships is very tough—in fact, athletic scholarships are among the most competitive out there. There are talented athletes in almost every high school, and no matter how good they are, not all of them will get a full ride in college.
In college sports, the NCAA is the official body. Schools are classified in to divisions, based on criteria such as athletic competitiveness. There are three divisions: I, II and III. The top two divisions have very competitive teams, meaning they have the most star athletes and they have the most funds to give them full-rides. These schools participate in a lot of sports, and their alumni are usually active sponsors and big fans of their teams. This means more money for the school, and money for scholarships, and more power to draw top-caliber athletes to play for their teams. In men’s basketball alone, there are 327 division I and 281 division II colleges that give scholarships.

College sports involve big bucks, and scholarship recipients find themselves winners even before they step on the playing court. Around $1 billion is set aside for funding athletic scholarships each year, distributed to a lot of competitive schools. More than 125,000 athletes become recipients of either a full or partial athletic scholarship, who are fortunate to be given financial assistance just to play the game that they love.

A full-ride, however, doesn’t mean an easy ride in college. The life of a student athlete is tough—you have to balance training with your team with attending classes and studying for exams. It is even tougher if your scholarship requires you to maintain a specific GPA; and when your team is on a losing streak, expect a lot of people to be breathing on your neck!