I really don't understand this. First and foremost, Pokemon is a game. Games are fun, and I believe almost every Pokemon player plays because it's fun.
I also happen to thing competing is fun, so I go to tournaments. I also like winning, so I win whenever I can, because that's fun too. Prizes are nice and kinda fun as well, but I'm having an awful lot of fun anyway, so I can deal with not getting prizes. Do I want better prize support? Yes, I do. Would better prizes motivate me to attend more events? Most likely. But would better prizes make me have more fun playing the game? Nope, not really. I play because the game is fun, so prizes don't really factor into that.
Looking at Pokemon like an investment is silly. We aren't investing in cards to make that money back in scholarships, or to turn our time investment into monetary gain. We invest in cards because the game is fun. It's just like any other game we play. Do I buy video games because I want to make my money back? Of course not, I buy them because they are fun. Same thing here, and with any entertainment.
Tl;dr: Basically, if you play this game because you want scholarships and not because you enjoy the game, why are you playing in the first place?