I knew a few of the athletes at my school. They were encouraged to take very select majors to coincide with their schedules. Those majors were things like political science, anthropology, sports education, etc etc. From what was relayed to me, the ease of those classes was purposeful because the practice and team schedule was so arduous. These dudes would wake up at 4 and get home around 9 every single day. Weights, practice, class, team meeting, practice, home. That was their life for 3 years. Anywho, the teammates took a lot of classes together. They had the same professors and everything who specifically had classes scheduled around the athletes. This was a big university. You COULD take other majors, but theu always said there were underhanded pseudo punishments for not conforming.
When it comes to athletic scholarships some schools are more education based (private) and some are more athletic based (large public schools).