OTTAWA – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced on Thursday the results of its annual data collection on athletic scholarships provided by Canadian universities during the course of the 2011-12 academic year.
The data reveals that in ’11-12 Canadian universities together provided $12,732,190 in athletic scholarship money to CIS student-athletes.
The total amount has almost doubled in the past five years as it stood at $6.9M in 2006-07. The total for 2010-11 was $11,571,144.
Above and beyond athletic scholarships, substantial additional financial support is available from universities to recognize academic success, financial need and leadership. In addition, many other organizations such as Sport 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,” said Pierre Lafontaine, chief executive officer of CIS. “The impressive total for the 2011-12 academic year as well as the constant increase over the past few years clearly indicate that CIS member institutions are committed to our student-athletes and want to be leaders within the Canadian sport system.”
Forty-three percent of all CIS student-athlete receive an athletic scholarship which, on average, covers 51% of their tuition and compulsory fees.
From the perspective of a gender comparison, in 2011-12, 58% of athletic scholarship dollars went to male student-athletes, who represent 54% 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 volleyball. For women, the largest average athletic scholarships were provided in basketball, volleyball and hockey.
In 2011-12, a record 2,619 CIS student-athletes (24%) achieved an academic average of 80 percent or higher while competing for their university, demonstrating the Canadian commitment to success in the classroom as well as the playing field.
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