A
student athlete (sometimes written
student–athlete) is a participant in an organized competitive sport sponsored by the educational institution in which he or she is enrolled. Student athletes must typically balance the roles of being a full-time student and a full-time
athlete. Due to educational institutions being colleges, they offer
athletic scholarships in various sports. Many student athletes are compensated with scholarships to attend these institutions but these scholarships are not mandatory to be considered a student athlete. In the United States, athletic scholarships are largely regulated by either the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) or the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which sets minimum standards for both the individuals awarded the scholarships (in terms of GPAs and standardized test scores) and for the institutions granting them (in terms of the form and value of the scholarships and the proportion of recipients who must ultimately earn degrees). The term
student-athlete was coined in 1964 by
Walter Byers, the first-ever executive director of the NCAA, to counter attempts to require universities to pay
workers' compensation.
