Are US Football Scholarships Worth It? What Players Need To Know Before Signing Anything

Everyone talks about getting a football scholarship like it is the dream. Free education. Play the sport you love. Live overseas. Sounds like a fantasy package wrapped in a bow.

But here is the truth. The scholarship system is nowhere near as shiny as the brochures make it look. So today I am breaking the whole thing down so you can figure out if it is even worth it.

Before we dive into the details, here is why you should even listen to me. My name is Alan Deriard. I have been a full-time football agent for eight years. In that time, I built the largest player agency in Australia with connections across more than twenty-five professional clubs in Europe. We have signed Aussies overseas. We have navigated thousands of football pathways. I make these videos for the players who cannot afford our services. The ones who still deserve the truth.

Let’s break this down into sections.

Section 1. The pros they sell you

Scholarship companies push the same list every time.

Free degree
Daily training
Live overseas
New lifestyle
New country
The whole hype package

For Aussies, the novelty of the USA or UK is a big hook. The lifestyle. The idea of a fresh start. The story they sell is clean and easy to swallow.

Now let’s talk about the reality behind those promises.

The degree is not free. It is a trap.

They sell you on the dream of a free degree, but in reality it is closer to a mortgage. Your parents will understand this comparison instantly.

Owning a home sounds incredible until you see the thirty year commitment. The opportunity cost. The repayments. The fact that it locks you out of everything else.

A US degree system works the exact same way.
They target the ninety percent of people who crave stability.
But a football career is not stable.
It is not a long term asset.
It is a sprint, not a marathon.

Most of you should not be spending your window chasing a backup plan. You have time for plan B later. You do not have infinite time for football.

Most people cannot give two big commitments their full attention.
Thirty hours of study.
Thirty hours of training.
You will fail at both.
So you end up locked in, just like a home loan, but you are not fully doing anything.

The scholarship discount is mostly fake

They tell you they can get you a scholarship.
They send you a shiny percentage.
Twenty five percent.
Fifty percent.
Seventy percent.

It feels flattering.
It feels like they want you.

But in reality, they are inflating the original price, slapping a “discount” on it and selling you the same thing for the same cost. You still end up paying thousands to the agency and thousands to the school.

The scholarship was never real. It was marketing.

The training is average at best

Most of these coaches are not developing pro players.
They are teachers with a whistle.

It is the same thing as going to a business school and learning from someone who has never started a business. They will claim they worked at Liverpool or coached elite teams. Ninety percent of those claims are fake.

The training level is not higher than NPL. In many cases, it is worse.

Section 2. Exposing the business model

Most scholarship companies are glorified middlemen.
They take money to introduce you to a university that accepts almost everyone as long as your parents can pay.

They do not care where you end up.
They do not care if you sit on a bench for two seasons.
They do not care if you waste four years of your football window.
They do not care if there is no pathway to professional football.

Their job ends once you are placed.
No support.
No strategy.
No development pathway.
Just a transaction.

And they charge fifteen to sixty thousand USD for that service. Not including tuition. Not including living costs. Over four years, the real fee becomes astronomical.

I know someone who runs a two person operation and makes five million a year doing this. The system is predatory. They prey on families who do not understand football or how development pathways work.

Here is the wild part. Football Australia refuses to let agents like us help players at NPL games, but they partner with US scholarship companies that take cuts from every player funnelled into their pipeline. They will even let these companies email entire databases of Aussie players. It is all business.

Section 3. Why the scholarship model makes no sense

Ask yourself this simple question.

Why would you fly to the US to play average football and study generic courses when you can do both here for a fraction of the cost?

You want average football
NPL already exists

You want generic education
Australian unis already exist

Neither has a real pathway to Europe.
Neither is a pro environment.

And yet, people still go overseas believing they are chasing something bigger.

Now let’s look at the numbers.

The average cost of tuition, room, board and books in the US is around 38,270 USD per year. Roughly sixty thousand Australian dollars.

Over four years, that is around 240,000 dollars.

For that same amount, a player could:

Trial at four to six European clubs every year
Spend real time in professional environments
Gain exposure to first to fifth division teams
Repeat that over four years

That is sixteen to twenty four clubs.
Sixteen to twenty four opportunities to be seen by real professionals.

Who do you think has the higher chance of a contract?

The player who studied and played average football at the same uni for four years,
or the player who spent four years inside actual professional clubs?

One path is designed to make you feel safe.
The other is designed for players who genuinely want a shot.

And no, I would never recommend that anyone trial at sixteen clubs. That is excessive. But even seven or eight is far more valuable than four years in a dead end system.

People accept the cost of education because it feels tangible.
They reject the cost of football development because it feels risky.

But if your dream is to become a professional athlete, risk is the point.

Section 4. When a scholarship actually makes sense

Let’s be balanced here. There are times when the scholarship pathway works.

1. You actually want the degree

If your priority is education and football is second, go for it.

2. You are using football to get into school

If you are talented and using your football ability to get a discount at a school you genuinely want to attend, that makes sense.

3. You get a real full ride at a top NCAA D1 program

If the school pays your entire tuition and it is a reputable D1 program, take it.
You are not being sold to.
You are being invested in.

Those three scenarios pass the logic test.

Section 5. Smarter alternatives

Before you commit four years of your football window to a uni team, think about your opportunity cost.

You could:

Play NPL or a lower European league and study online
Work part time and invest in targeted trials
Take control of your development and exposure
Study in Australia and only go overseas when you are ready for a real club

Most of you only get one football window.
Do not waste it on a deal that was never built for players chasing a professional pathway.

Are scholarships a scam?

You tell me.
Drop your thoughts below.