Head-Count Sport
A head-count sport is one in which every scholarship is a full ride — the athlete either gets a full scholarship or none. Head-count sports are limited to a few high-revenue Division I sports: football, men's and women's basketball, women's gymnastics, volleyball, and tennis.
In head-count sports, the number of scholarships equals the number of fully-funded athletes on the roster. There is no partial splitting — each award is a full ride or nothing.
This is why full rides are rare outside of these specific sports. An athlete in a head-count sport who earns a scholarship gets a full ride; an athlete in an equivalency sport with similar ability likely gets a partial award.
The head-count / equivalency distinction is one of the most important things for families to understand before evaluating offers. It explains why the same dollar expectation produces very different results across sports.