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Best Soccer Colleges

By Next College Student Athlete, 11/14/19, 1:00PM PST

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Soccer is a very popular sport across the world so as you can imagine, there is a lot of competition when it comes to college soccer recruiting.

Soccer is a very popular sport across the world so as you can imagine, there is a lot of competition when it comes to college soccer recruiting. NCSA Power Rankings gives recruits the opportunity to find the right fit based on their academic, athletic, social and financial needs.

NCSA Power Rankings are based on proprietary analysis of NCSA “Favorites” data obtained from the college search activity of the over two million student-athletes on the NCSA recruiting network, U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges, IPEDS graduation rates and IPEDS average cost after aid.

Best Men’s Soccer Colleges

Overall, men’s soccer provides opportunities to compete at more than 1,000 colleges. NCSA Power Rankings includes a number of NCAA Division 1 colleges, three NCAA Division 2 colleges and 21 NCAA Division 3 colleges.

  1. Stanford University
  2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  3. University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
  4. University of Virginia
  5. Harvard University

Top 100 Colleges for Men’s Soccer Student-Athletes

Best NCAA Division 1 Men’s Soccer Colleges

If you are a recruit with dreams of competing on the D1 level for college soccer, you should be happy to know that there are more than 200 colleges. Consider your options and evaluate the schools on our Power Rankings lists.

  1. Stanford University
  2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  3. University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
  4. University of Virginia
  5. Harvard University

Best NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Colleges

The NCAA Division 2 level also has more than 200 colleges with soccer teams. Fully funded Division 2 soccer programs can offer up to 9 scholarships per team. Deciding what schools are the best fit requires considering academics, athletics, social culture and finances.

  1. University of California – San Diego
  2. Western Washington University
  3. Bentley University
  4. Colorado School of Mines
  5. California State Polytechnic University – Pomona

Best NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Colleges

There are more than 400 men’s soccer colleges competing at the NCAA Division 3 level. While you may know NCAA Division 3 schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, most families don’t realize Division 3 athletes can get several other forms of financial aid.

  1. Amherst College
  2. Johns Hopkins University
  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  4. Emory University
  5. Franklin & Marshall College

Best NAIA Men’s Soccer Colleges

There are about 180 men’s soccer teams at the NAIA level. Recruits often don’t consider these schools simply because they don’t know about all of the opportunities. With a little research, you might find it is just what you are looking for.

  1. Soka University of America
  2. University of Michigan – Dearborn
  3. Indiana Wesleyan University
  4. Asbury University
  5. Robert Morris University – Illinois
     

Best Women’s Soccer Colleges

There are more than 1,200 four-year colleges that offer opportunities to compete in women’s college soccer. The 2019 overall rankings are dominated by “name brand” schools at the top, with several NCAA Division 1 colleges, 13 NCAA Division 3 colleges and two NCAA Division 2 colleges.

  1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  2. Stanford University
  3. University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
  4. Harvard University
  5. Yale University

Top 100 Colleges for Women’s Soccer Student-Athletes

Best NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Colleges

There are more than 330 NCAA Division 1 women’s soccer colleges, large and small, in all corners of the US. This year’s Power Rankings include a mix of colleges, showing that the “right college” is up to the recruit to find.

  1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  2. Stanford University
  3. University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
  4. Harvard University
  5. Yale University

Best NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Colleges

Are you unsure if you would be a good fit at a low D1 school or a top D2 school? There is ample amount of D2 schools to visit and research, about 260 in fact. Check out our top five schools!

  1. University of California – San Diego
  2. Grand Valley State University
  3. Western Washington University
  4. Bentley University
  5. Rollins College

Best NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Colleges

Women’s soccer is very exciting and competitive. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the U.S. or overseas; if competing in college is your dream, there are more than 440 women’s soccer colleges.

  1. Johns Hopkins University
  2. Amherst College
  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  4. Emory University
  5. University of California – Santa Cruz

Best NAIA Women’s Soccer Colleges

There are over 180 NAIA colleges with women’s soccer. Get started by checking out our top 5.

  1. Soka University of America
  2. Indiana Wesleyan University
  3. Taylor University
  4. Robert Morris University – Illinois
  5. University of St. Thomas – Texas
     

ABOUT NEXT COLLEGE STUDENT ATHLETE

NCSA is the world's largest and most successful collegiate athletic recruiting network. A wholly owned subsidiary of Reigning Champs LLC, NCSA's 700 teammates leverage exclusive data, proprietary matching algorithms and personal relationships built over nearly two decades as the industry leader to connect tens of thousands of college-bound student-athletes to more than 35,000 college coaches nationwide across 34 sports every year.

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