There are 204 NCAA D1 soccer colleges for men in the United States according to the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). The NCAA allows colleges to offer a maximum of 9.9 scholarships for men’s D1 soccer teams which is less than the 12 allowed by the NAIA and the 18 for JuCo programs. Since Soccer is an equivalency sport, single scholarships can be divided among multiple players meaning few, if any, players will receive full-ride D1 scholarships.
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California has the most D1 men’s soccer programs with 21 colleges. New York has the second most at 10 and North Carolina and Pennsylvania tie for third with 14 each. Eleven states don’t have any D1 soccer colleges and 9 have only one college offering D1 soccer for men.
Who Spends the Most on NCAA D1 Soccer for Men?
The average team expenses was $891,667 in 2017. This includes:
appearance guarantees and options, athletically related student aid, contract services, equipment, fundraising activities, operating expenses, promotional activities, recruiting expenses, salaries and benefits, supplies, travel, and any other expenses attributable to intercollegiate athletic activities.
The University of Connecticut was the only team that had total expenses over $2,000,000 at $2,044,297. The following are the top ten men’s D1 Soccer teams ranked by expenses:
- University of Connecticut
- Syracuse University
- University of Notre Dame
- Indiana University-Bloomington
- University of Maryland-College Park
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- University of Washington-Seattle Campus
- Wake Forest University
- Clemson University
- Southern Methodist University
Four of the schools are members of the ACC while three are from the Big 10 Conference.
Only two D1 teams had expenses under $200,000, Kennesaw State University and Florida Gulf Coast University. The 10 colleges with the lowest expenses come from 9 difference conferences including the Ivy League, PAC-12, and Conference USA. The following are the 10 teams that ranked at the bottom of expenses in 2017:
- Florida Atlantic University
- Western Illinois University
- Princeton University
- Saint Peter’s University
- Eastern Illinois University
- Virginia Military Institute
- Utah State University
- Stanford University
- Florida Gulf Coast University
- Kennesaw State University
What are the graduation rates?
When considering D1 soccer colleges, players should look at both team graduation rates and the general student population graduation rate. It isn’t easy to find the team graduation rates but you can find out how at How to Find Student-Athlete Graduation Rates.
Why should you care about the general student population graduation rate? Because there are all kinds of reasons why players may quit their sport in college. And when they do, they’ll want to make sure they’re still likely to graduate.
Among the colleges with D1 Men’s Soccer Programs, the general student population 4-year graduation rate was 51.7%. The College of Holy Cross had the highest rate at 91% with Norte Dame and Georgetown tying for second with 90%. Unfortunately, there are 19 schools where the 4-year graduation rate was under 20%.
How big are colleges offering Men’s D1 Soccer?
Most expect D1 soccer colleges to be large and for the most part they are. The average number of full-time undergraduates was 11,625 for colleges that offer D1 Men’s Soccer. But if you’re looking for a smaller college experience, it is possible to find it and still play at the D1 level.
There are 61 schools where the full-time undergraduates total less than 5,000. There are 15 with less than 2,500 full-time undergraduates. If you’re looking for a traditional Liberal Arts College, these are the places to start. Of course, these schools tend to be members of less prominent conferences such as the Atlantic 10, Big South, Metro Atlantic, and Northeast Conferences.
How much do D1 Soccer Colleges Cost?
If you’re thinking that you don’t have to worry about paying for college because you’re going to be getting it paid for with a soccer scholarship, think again. Remember at the beginning I said soccer is a head count sport with a maximum of 9.9 scholarships. The average soccer roster is somewhere around 30 players. You do the math. And don’t forget, there’s a very good chance the college doesn’t even fully fund all of the allowed scholarships. So, yes, cost is something you need to pay attention to.
Of the 100 private D1 Men’s Soccer programs, 14 have a total cost of attendance of over $70,000 a year. The average among all private colleges is $59,489 and only 16 private schools have totals under $50,000.
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Things are better at public institutions but only if you’re paying in-state tuition. The average for the 103 public schools is $26,562. However, 20 of the schools have a total in-state cost over $30,000 which isn’t exactly pocket change.
The average for those paying out-of-state tuition at the public schools is $42,307. Yeah, out-of-state tuition can be as much as that at private colleges. In fact, 8 of the public universities charge out-of-state residents over $60,000 a year and another 12 charge over $50,000.
Of course, you may have heard that hardly anyone pays the actual sticker price for college which is true. That’s why you need to pay attention to a number called “average net price.” This is the average price students pay after deducting all gift aid, money you don’t have to pay back. The average of the average net price for private school drops to $28,905 and for public schools to $15,096. However, keep in mind this is an average. Some are still going to pay a lot more and some a lot less. And even going by average net price, there are three private schools at over $40,000.
204 NCAA Men’s D1 Soccer Colleges
The following table lists all colleges with NCAA D1 soccer programs for men and their expenses for 2017. When using these numbers, you need to keep in mind that they include travel expenses which can vary dramatically by region and for teams that make post-conference play. All of this data can be found in the DIY College Rankings Soccer Spreadsheet.
NCAA Men’s D1 Soccer Colleges
