What percentage of high school soccer players play in college?

We do not publish one, because we count college rosters, not high school players. What we can count: 19,572 freshmen are listed on 2026-27 college rosters, 9,733 women and 9,839 men.

How many freshmen does a college soccer team take?

On the middle Division I roster, about 8 of the women and about 8 of the men are freshmen. On the middle Division III roster it is about 8 and 11.

How hard is it to play D1 soccer?

Division I lists 2,618 freshman women and 1,653 freshman men this season, across 562 teams. On the middle Division I men’s roster, 33% of players are from outside the United States.

Is it easier to play D3 soccer?

There are more places: Division III has 820 teams and lists 7,734 freshmen. Division III awards no athletic scholarships (Bylaw 15.01.3), so the money there is academic and need-based.

Do you have to be recruited to play college soccer?

No. The NCAA’s own guide describes a walk-on as a player who was not recruited in the usual way and has no athletic scholarship but becomes a member of the team.

Guides

The places, counted

How hard is it to play college soccer?

The short answer

In 2026-27, the 2,194 college soccer rosters we read list 66,356 players, and 19,572 of them are freshmen: 9,733 women and 9,839 men. That is about how many places open in a year. Division III has the most of them and the NAIA the fewest. The places are spread across 2,215 teams, and 15,301 of this year’s freshmen are outside Division I.

Counted from our data on October 6, 2026

Pictured: Kalamazoo v Baldwin Wallace, women’s, 2024

Erik Drost · CC BY 2.0

Places on college soccer rosters, 2026-27
Teams	2,215
Players listed on the rosters we read	66,356
Freshmen listed	19,572
Freshmen, women / men	9,733 / 9,839
Players with a hometown outside the US	11,889 of 64,480 (18%)
Division I roster limit	28 (Bylaw 17.2)

How many college soccer places open each year?

Freshmen listed on 2026-27 rosters, by level

Level	Freshmen, women	Freshmen, men	On the middle women’s roster	On the middle men’s roster
D1	Freshmen, women2,618	Freshmen, men1,653	On the middle women’s rosterabout 8	On the middle men’s rosterabout 8
D2	Freshmen, women2,305	Freshmen, men2,129	On the middle women’s rosterabout 9	On the middle men’s rosterabout 10
D3	Freshmen, women3,432	Freshmen, men4,302	On the middle women’s rosterabout 8	On the middle men’s rosterabout 11
NAIA	Freshmen, women1,378	Freshmen, men1,755	On the middle women’s rosterabout 7	On the middle men’s rosterabout 9
All four	Freshmen, women9,733	Freshmen, men9,839	On the middle women’s roster	On the middle men’s roster

The last two columns: the middle roster’s size times the share of listed players who are freshmen.

The freshmen on this year’s rosters are the places that opened last year. Places also go to transfers, who are listed under their own class year. A program does not fill the same number at every position each year: read a target program’s roster by class and position on its program page.

Is it harder to play D1 than D2, D3 or NAIA?

There are fewer places. Division I has 562 of the 2,215 teams and lists 4,271 freshmen; Division III has 820 teams and lists 7,734. Division I rosters at schools in the House settlement are also capped at 28 (Bylaw 17.2).

15,301 of this year’s 19,572 listed freshmen are at Division II, Division III and NAIA programs. What separates the levels is in D1 vs D2 vs D3 vs NAIA.

How many places go to international players?

Share of the middle roster from outside the United States, 2026-27

Level	Women	Men
D1	9%	33%
D2	4%	34%
D3	0%	4%
NAIA	9%	52%

The middle roster’s share of players whose listed hometown is outside the US, on rosters that list hometowns.

Across every roster, 11,889 of the 64,480 players whose hometown we could read are from outside the United States. On women’s rosters the countries that appear most are Canada, England, Germany, Spain, Sweden; on men’s, England, Spain, Germany, Canada, Brazil.

For a player in the United States, a men’s roster that is half international has half as many places as its size suggests. For a player abroad, the same table shows where the doors are: how to play college soccer in the USA.

Which states do college soccer players come from?

The ten states most college players list as home

Home state	Players	Women	Men	Playing in their home state
California	Players4,675	Women2,884	Men1,791	Playing in their home state53%
Texas	Players3,857	Women2,228	Men1,629	Playing in their home state54%
New York	Players3,801	Women1,923	Men1,878	Playing in their home state67%
Pennsylvania	Players3,277	Women1,857	Men1,420	Playing in their home state74%
New Jersey	Players2,551	Women1,359	Men1,192	Playing in their home state36%
Illinois	Players2,402	Women1,213	Men1,189	Playing in their home state47%
Ohio	Players2,014	Women1,233	Men781	Playing in their home state58%
Florida	Players2,003	Women1,055	Men948	Playing in their home state31%
Massachusetts	Players1,905	Women1,037	Men868	Playing in their home state53%
Virginia	Players1,660	Women876	Men784	Playing in their home state49%

Hometowns as rosters list them, read on 2026-10-05.

The last column is worth a look before you build a list. Among these ten, Pennsylvania keeps the most of its players at home (74%) and Florida the fewest (31%).

What decides whether a player gets one of the places?

Level. Can you play at the level of that program now, on film a coach can judge?
Room. Does the squad lose players at your position before you arrive?
Grades. Will admissions say yes, and will the NCAA or NAIA clear you to play?
Being known. Has the coach seen you play, or had a reason to look?
Money. Can the family afford the school with the aid it actually offers?

The last four are things a family can work on. Most of the work is choosing programs where all five can be true and then writing to enough of them: how to get recruited for college soccer.

Q&AQuick answers

What percentage of high school soccer players play in college?: We do not publish one, because we count college rosters, not high school players. What we can count: 19,572 freshmen are listed on 2026-27 college rosters, 9,733 women and 9,839 men.
How many freshmen does a college soccer team take?: On the middle Division I roster, about 8 of the women and about 8 of the men are freshmen. On the middle Division III roster it is about 8 and 11.
How hard is it to play D1 soccer?: Division I lists 2,618 freshman women and 1,653 freshman men this season, across 562 teams. On the middle Division I men’s roster, 33% of players are from outside the United States.
Is it easier to play D3 soccer?: There are more places: Division III has 820 teams and lists 7,734 freshmen. Division III awards no athletic scholarships (Bylaw 15.01.3), so the money there is academic and need-based.
Do you have to be recruited to play college soccer?: No. The NCAA’s own guide describes a walk-on as a player who was not recruited in the usual way and has no athletic scholarship but becomes a member of the team.

How this was counted

Freshmen are players whose class year a roster gives as freshman, on rosters confirmed as the 2026-27 squad. Rosters label a redshirt freshman in different ways, so the count is close to, not exactly, the number of first-year players. Hometowns are as rosters list them: a player counts as international when the listed hometown is outside the United States, and players whose hometown we could not read are left out of that share.

Sources

Last checked against these sources onOctober 6, 2026. Figures marked Startline are counted from the data we hold and move when it does. Rules change: check anything dated against the governing body itself.

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