ARTICLE #11: Chances of playing.....

Chances of a High School Athlete playing College Sports.docx

Chances of a High School Athlete playing College Sports

Scholarship
 Stats.com

 


What are the chances of a high school athlete making the transition to the college level? We compared the number of athletes participating in varsity sports at US high schools during the 2013-14 school year to the number of college student athletes and arrived at the following percentages. Overall a little over 7% of high school athletes (about 1 in 14) went on to play a varsity sport in college, and about 2% of high school athletes (1 in 50) went on to play at the NCAA Division I level:

 

 

High School

College

% competing

% of foreign

% of high school athletes competing in

Varsity Sport

Boys *

Men

in College

Athletes **

NCAA I

NCAA II

NCAA III

NAIA

NJCAA

Other

Archery

2,705

54

2.0%

--

-

0.2%

0.4%

0.5%

0.2%

0.7%

Badminton

4,436

-

-

--

-

-

-

-

-

-

Baseball

482,629

55,410

11.5%

Low

2.1%

2.1%

2.7%

1.4%

2.3%

0.9%

Basketball

541,054

32,190

5.9%

Average

1.0%

0.9%

1.4%

0.8%

1.1%

0.7%

Bowling

28,121

736

2.6%

--

-

0.1%

-

1.7%

0.6%

0.1%

Cross Country

252,547

18,217

7.2%

Average

1.9%

1.3%

2.3%

0.8%

0.4%

0.4%

Cycling

466

179

n/m

--

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Equestrian

177

49

n/m

--

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Fencing

2,189

651

29.7%

Average

16.9%

1.3%

11.2%

-

-

0.2%

Field Hockey

159

-

-

--

-

-

-

-

-

-

Football

1,122,024

90,136

8.0%

Low

2.4%

1.6%

2.2%

0.8%

0.5%

0.5%

Golf

152,647

12,292

8.1%

High

2.0%

1.6%

2.1%

1.1%

0.9%

0.4%

Gymnastics

1,995

382

19.1%

Low

16.9%

-

1.1%

1.1%

-

-

Ice Hockey

35,393

4,360

12.3%

High

3.3%

1.7%

6.4%

0.3%

0.6%

-

Lacrosse

106,720

13,857

13.0%

Low

2.8%

2.1%

7.0%

0.4%

0.7%

-

Rifle

2,668

199

7.5%

Low

4.5%

1.3%

1.3%

-

0.3%

-

Rodeo

123

1,372

n/m

--

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Rowing

2,544

3,091

n/m

Average

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Rugby

1,440

555

n/m

--

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Sailing

145

507

n/m

Low

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Skiing - Alpine

5,593

495

8.9%

High

2.9%

1.4%

3.7%

0.5%

-

0.4%

Skiing - Nordic/XC

4,406

41

0.9%

--

-

-

0.8%

-

-

0.2%

Snowboarding

696

14

2.0%

--

-

-

-

-

-

2.0%

Soccer

417,419

37,890

9.1%

High

1.4%

1.4%

2.8%

1.3%

1.2%

1.0%

Softball

1,436

-

-

--

-

-

-

-

-

Squash

-

471

n/m

High

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Swimming & Diving

138,373

10,893

7.9%

Average

2.8%

1.0%

3.1%

0.2%

0.2%

0.6%

Tennis

191,004

10,060

5.3%

High

1.4%

0.9%

1.9%

0.5%

0.3%

0.3%

Track & Field

653,971

27,772

4.2%

Average

1.3%

0.7%

1.3%

0.5%

0.2%

0.3%

Volleyball

52,149

2,314

4.4%

Average

0.9%

0.5%

1.8%

0.7%

-

0.5%

Water Polo

21,451

1,627

7.6%

Average

2.7%

0.6%

1.3%

0.1%

-

2.8%

Wrestling

269,514

9,756

3.6%

Low

0.9%

0.7%

1.0%

0.5%

0.3%

0.3%

Totals

4,496,194

330,374

7.3%

1.8%

1.3%

2.1%

0.8%

0.8%

0.5%

 

 

 

The following are the chances of high school girls competing at the college level by sport:

 

 

High School

College

% competing

% of foreign

% of high school athletes competing in

Varsity Sport

Girls *

Women

in College

Athletes **

NCAA I

NCAA II

NCAA III

NAIA

NJCAA

Other

Archery

2,162

73

3.4%

--

0.5%

0.1%

0.5%

1.2%

0.2%

0.9%

Badminton

12,152

150

1.2%

--

-

-

0.2%

1.1%

-

-

Baseball

1,066

-

-

--

-

-

-

-

-

-

Basketball

433,344

27,710

6.4%

Average

1.2%

1.1%

1.5%

0.9%

1.1%

0.6%

Beach Volleyball

-

619

n/m

Average

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Bowling

25,751

1,124

4.4%

Low

1.1%

0.9%

0.3%

1.5%

0.4%

0.1%

Cross Country

218,121

19,351

8.9%

Average

2.6%

1.6%

2.9%

0.9%

0.4%

0.5%

Cycling

130

78

n/m

--

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Equestrian

1,306

2,295

n/m

Low

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Fencing

1,774

677

38.2%

Average

23.2%

2.0%

12.6%

-

-

0.4%

Field Hockey

61,471

5,885

9.6%

High

2.9%

1.1%

5.5%

-

-

.1%

Football

1,828

-

-

--

-

-

-

-

-

-

Golf

72,172

6,638

9.2%

High

3.1%

2.0%

2.0%

1.4%

0.4%

0.3%

Gymnastics

19,231

1,733

9.0%

6.2%

1.3%

1.3%

.1%

-

-

Ice Hockey

9,150

2,150

23.5%

High

7.5%

2.4%

13.3%

0.2%

0.2%

-

Lacrosse

81,969

10,869

13.3%

Low

3.4%

2.1%

6.0%

0.3%

0.3%

-

Rifle

1,587

189

11.9%

Average

8.7%

1.3%

1.5%

-

0.4%

-

Rodeo

143

850

n/m

--

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Rowing

4,242

7,800

n/m

Low

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Rugby

322

362

n/m

Low

n/m

n/m

n/m

-

-

-

Sailing

122

648

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Skiing

4,541

496

10.9%

High

4.1%

1.8%

4.2%

0.6%

-

0.3%

Skiing - Nordic/XC

4,863

44

0.9%

--

-

-

0.9%

-

-

-

Snowboarding

290

11

3.8%

--

-

-

-

-

-

3.8%

Soccer

374,564

37,760

10.1%

Average

2.4%

1.8%

2.8%

1.3%

1.0%

0.8%

Softball

371,891

30,874

8.3%

Low

1.6%

1.5%

2.0%

1.1%

1.6%

0.5%

Squash

-

449

n/m

High

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

n/m

Swimming & Diving

165,779

13,679

8.3%

Average

3.3%

1.0%

3.2%

0.2%

0.1%

0.5%

Synchronized Swimming

603

74

12.3%

Low

10.9%

-

1.3%

-

-

-

Tennis

215,737

10,869

5.0%

High

1.4%

0.9%

1.8%

0.4%

0.3%

0.2%

Track & Field

545,011

26,059

4.8%

Average

1.8%

0.8%

1.3%

0.5%

0.2%

0.2%

Volleyball

429,634

26,570

6.2%

Average

1.2%

1.1%

1.6%

0.9%

0.9%

0.5%

Water Polo

18,899

1,803

9.5%

Average

3.7%

1.2%

1.3%

0.1%

-

3.3%

Wrestling

9,904

294

3.0%

--

-

0.6%

0.1%

1.9%

0.3%

0.1%

Totals

3,089,759

234,727

7.6%

2.2%

1.2%

2.2%

0.8%

0.7%

0.5%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For additional information see our page on the chances of a high school athlete getting a college athletic scholarship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* High school data is from the 2013-14 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations. This data is based on competition at the High School Level during the 2013-14 School Year.

 

 

 

** Many foreign student athletes compete on U.S. college varsity teams and may not be reflected as US high school participants. This factor may result in computed participation percentages for many sports that are artificially high. Here is a summary of foreign student (non-resident alien) participation on NCAA I varsity teams per the NCAA 2013-14 Race & Gender Demographics Database:

*** The notation "n/m" reports that the computed participation percentage is not meaningful due to an insufficient number of high school participants to make a valid comparison of high school to college athletes in the sport..

 

 

 

% of foreign athletes

Sport - NCAA I Member Schools

Men

Women

Tennis

32.3%

30.4%

Ice Hockey

21.0%

26.9%

Skiing

17.9%

17.8%

Squash

14.7%

15.2%

Golf

12.2%

15.8%

Field Hockey

-

10.2%

Soccer

12.1%

4.9%

Water Polo

6.8%

6.9%

Basketball

6.1%

4.4%

Swimming