NCAA RECRUITING FACTS
College sports create a pathway to opportunity for student-athletes.
490,000
Student-athletes
Teams
19,500
3 Divisions
1Association
DIVISION I DIVISION II DIVISION III
Division I schools, on average, enroll Division II provides growth The Division III experience provides an
the most students, manage the largest opportunities through academic integrated environment that focuses
athletics budgets, offer a wide array of achievement, high-level athletics on academic success while offering
academic programs and provide the competition and community competitive athletics and meaningful
most athletics scholarships. engagement. Many participants are nonathletics opportunities.
first-generation college students.
PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION
• 179,200 student-athletes • 121,900 student-athletes • 190,900 student-athletes
• 351 colleges and universities • 308 colleges and universities • 443 colleges and universities
ATHLETICS SCHOLARSHIPS ATHLETICS SCHOLARSHIPS FINANCIAL AID
59 percent of all student-athletes receive some 62 percent of all student-athletes receive some 80 percent of all student-athletes receive some
level of athletics aid level of athletics aid form of academic grant or need-based scholarship;
institutional gift aid totals $17,000 on average
ACADEMICS ACADEMICS
2017 Graduation Success Rate: 87 percent* 2017 Academic Success Rate: 72 percent* ACADEMICS
2017 Academic Success Rate: 87 percent*
OTHER STATS OTHER STATS
Median Undergraduate Enrollment: 9,629 Median Undergraduate Enrollment: 2,485 OTHER STATS
Average Number of Teams per School: 19 Average Number of Teams per School: 16 Median Undergraduate Enrollment: 1,748
Average Percentage of Student Body Average Percentage of Student Body Average Number of Teams per School: 18
Participating in Sports: 4 percent Participating in Sports: 9 percent Average Percentage of Student Body
Division I National Championships: 26 Division II National Championships: 25 Participating in Sports: 26 percent
Division III National Championships: 28
Want to play NCAA sports? Visit ncaa.org/playcollegesports
*Graduation rate for student-athletes, including those who transfer from one school to another.
Updated March 2018.
Facts about NCAA sports
Does the NCAA award athletics scholarships?
Individual schools award athletics scholarships. Divisions I and II schools provide more than $3 billion in athletics scholarships annually to
more than 150,000 student-athletes. Division III schools, with more than 190,000 student-athletes, do not offer athletically related financial
aid, but most student-athletes receive some form of academic grant or need-based scholarship.
Do many high school athletes earn athletics scholarships?
Very few, in fact. About 2 percent of high school athletes are awarded some form of athletics scholarship to compete in college.
Do NCAA student-athletes have difficulty meeting graduation requirements with the time demands of their
sport? While competing in college does require strong time-management skills and some thoughtful planning with academic advisors,
on average NCAA student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student body.
Do many NCAA student-athletes go on to play professionally?
Fewer than 2 percent of NCAA student-athletes go on to be professional athletes. In reality, most student-athletes depend on academics to
prepare them for life after college. Education is important. There are nearly half a million NCAA student-athletes, and most of them will go
pro in something other than sports.
ESTIMATED PROBABILITY OF COMPETING IN NCAA ATHLETICS BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL
Men’s Women’s Men’s Men’s
Student-Athletes All Sports Basketball Basketball Football Baseball Ice Hockey Soccer
High School Student-Athletes 7,300,000 546,400 429,400 1,083,300 488,800 35,200 440,300
NCAA Student-Athletes 492,000 18,700 16,600 73,700 34,600 4,100 24,800
Percentage Moving from High School to NCAA 6% 3.4% 3.9% 6.8% 7.1% 11.7% 5.6%
Percentage Moving from NCAA to Major Professional* 2% 1.1% 0.9% 1.5% 9.1% 5.6% 1.4%
*Percent NCAA to Major Professional figures are based on the number of draft picks made in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL and MLS drafts.
NCAA is a trademark of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Updated March 2018.
