Best Colleges for Soccer: Men's and Women's Programs

If you're good enough to be thinking about playing in college, you've probably already run this search. What comes back is a list of famous names and a paragraph each about tradition and facilities.

Here's what those lists hide. Portland's men finished the 2025 season ranked sixth in the country. Portland's women didn't make the top 25.

Same school, same sport, two completely different answers, and one blended ranking would have pointed you at the wrong one.

How this list works

The two sides are kept apart, and a program earns its place two ways. It finished the 2025 season in the United Soccer Coaches final top 25, or it has won an NCAA title since 2000. A trophy from 1973 is history. It tells you nothing about the team you'd be joining.

The last two columns are the ones no soccer site prints. Marshall costs $7,502 a year after aid and finished 17th. Santa Clara costs $50,062. Grand Canyon graduates 43.5% of its students, Duke 96.8%. Those numbers will shape your next four years more than the ranking will.

There are 61 programs across the two tables. Take the one for the side you'd play on, run down it until you find schools you could realistically get into, then read across the row before you get attached to anything.

Men's soccer: the 2025 table

The first 25 rows are the final 2025 national ranking in order. The rows marked unranked won a national title since 2000 but didn't finish last season in the top 25, so they're here on what they've won rather than how they just played.

School	2025 final rank	Titles since 2000	Net price (with aid)	Grad rate
Washington	1	1 (2025)	$14,091	85.2%
NC State	2	None	$17,303	84.8%
Furman	3	None	$30,308	78.8%
Saint Louis	4	None	$24,398	79.5%
Georgetown	5	1 (2019)	$40,815	94.8%
Portland	6	None	$28,210	79.8%
Maryland	7	3 (2018)	$15,678	88.6%
Princeton	8	None	$6,128	97.6%
Stanford	9	3 (2017)	$13,807	91.9%
Bryant	10	None	$41,219	79.8%
Virginia	11	2 (2014)	$21,565	95.6%
Akron	12	1 (2010)	$13,946	51.9%
Vermont	13	1 (2024)	$19,343	78.6%
UNC Greensboro	14	None	$10,965	56.3%
SMU	15	None	$40,892	84.3%
High Point	16	None	$38,707	73.7%
Marshall	17	1 (2020)	$7,502	51.2%
San Diego	18	None	$30,365	83.7%
Oregon State	19	None	$19,604	70.1%
Hofstra	20	None	$34,176	68.5%
Grand Canyon	21	None	$22,472	43.5%
Indiana	22	3 (2012)	$16,264	80.2%
West Virginia	23	None	$15,634	64.7%
Connecticut	24	1 (2000)	$25,097	83.3%
UMKC	25	None	$13,310	55.5%
Clemson	Unranked	2 (2023)	$22,253	86.6%
Syracuse	Unranked	1 (2022)	$38,793	83.6%
Notre Dame	Unranked	1 (2013)	$26,780	95.2%
North Carolina	Unranked	2 (2011)	$11,655	91.2%
Wake Forest	Unranked	1 (2007)	$28,719	89.2%
UC Santa Barbara	Unranked	1 (2006)	$16,109	83%
UCLA	Unranked	1 (2002)	$12,548	92.6%

Net price is the College Scorecard average for students who receive federal aid, so it is lower than a full-paying family would see.

Women's soccer: the 2025 table

Same rule, same two doors. Notice how little this table shares with the one above it. Of the 25 ranked women's programs, only a handful show up on the men's side at all.

School	2025 final rank	Titles since 2000	Net price (with aid)	Grad rate
Florida State	1	5 (2025)	$11,297	85.6%
Stanford	2	3 (2019)	$13,807	91.9%
Duke	3	None	$29,612	96.8%
TCU	4	None	$36,660	85.5%
Vanderbilt	5	None	$15,846	93.5%
Washington	6	None	$14,091	85.2%
Michigan State	7	None	$19,680	80.7%
Virginia	8	None	$21,565	95.6%
Ohio State	9	None	$17,339	87.7%
Georgetown	9	None	$40,815	94.8%
Notre Dame	11	2 (2010)	$26,780	95.2%
Colorado	12	None	$25,346	74.2%
North Carolina	13	7 (2024)	$11,655	91.2%
Kansas	13	None	$18,059	68.8%
Baylor	15	None	$41,104	80%
LSU	16	None	$19,151	68.8%
Arkansas	17	None	$18,209	70.5%
Memphis	18	None	$12,397	50.9%
West Virginia	19	None	$15,634	64.7%
BYU	20	None	$15,564	81%
Iowa	21	None	$22,531	74.6%
UCLA	22	2 (2022)	$12,548	92.6%
Wisconsin	23	None	$17,354	89.6%
Louisville	24	None	$17,988	61.2%
Xavier	25	None	$32,997	68.7%
Santa Clara	Unranked	2 (2020)	$50,062	87.9%
USC	Unranked	2 (2016)	$32,740	91.8%
Penn State	Unranked	1 (2015)	$32,875	86.1%
Portland	Unranked	2 (2005)	$28,210	79.8%

Net price is the College Scorecard average for students who receive federal aid, so it is lower than a full-paying family would see.

The programs winning right now

Washington

Washington won the 2025 men's title, the first national championship in the program's history, beating NC State 3-2 in overtime.

They did it the hard way. Since the tournament field went to 48 teams in 2001, only two sides have won four straight road games to reach the College Cup, and Washington is one of them.

Net price is $14,091 and 85.2% of students graduate, which is a rare combination at the top of this list.

NC State

NC State finished 2025 ranked second and lost the final in overtime. The program has never won a national title.

The Wolfpack play in the ACC out of Dail Soccer Stadium, where a crowd of 5,083 against North Carolina in September set a stadium record.

Marc Hubbard's side reached the College Cup for the first time in more than 30 years, the last trip having come in 1990, then beat Saint Louis 2-1 to reach a national final the program had never played in before.

That's the whole argument for reading a ranking next to a trophy count instead of picking one. On titles, this program doesn't exist. On how it played in 2025, it was the second best team in the country.

Furman

Furman finished third, the highest any team from outside a power conference placed in 2025, and reached the College Cup semifinals.

It's also the smallest school near the top of the men's table. Net price is $30,308, more than most of the public universities above it, so the soccer fit and the money fit pull in opposite directions here.

Furman plays in the Southern Conference and won it in back to back seasons. The 2025 run was the first College Cup trip in program history and only the second ever by a Southern Conference team, the first since Davidson in 1992.

Doug Allison retired at the end of it after 31 years, finishing 365-175-77 as the winningest coach in conference history.

Saint Louis

Saint Louis has ten national championships, an NCAA record, and all ten came between 1959 and 1973.

That's exactly the kind of number that keeps a school on lists it stopped belonging on. Except Saint Louis still belongs: it finished 2025 ranked fourth and reached the College Cup semifinals, so the history and the present agree for once.

It also holds the NCAA record for tournament appearances, which tells you more than the trophies do.

Georgetown

Georgetown is the only school that finished 2025 inside the top ten on both sides: fifth in the men's poll and joint ninth in the women's.

The men won the 2019 title on penalties, the program's first, after a 3-3 final.

The price is the catch. Net price is $40,815, the highest of any school in the men's top ten, though 94.8% of students graduate.

Portland

Portland is the clearest example of why one soccer list can't cover both programs. The men finished 2025 ranked sixth. The women didn't make the top 25 at all.

The women's program is the one with the trophies, two of them, in 2002 and 2005, and for years it was the reason Portland appeared on pages like this one.

Read one blended ranking and you'll end up looking at the wrong school, whichever side you play on.

Maryland

Maryland has won three men's titles since 2000, in 2005, 2008 and 2018, and finished 2025 ranked seventh.

Among schools with more than one modern title it's also one of the cheapest: net price $15,678, graduation rate 88.6%. Put trophies, current form and cost together and it's arguably the strongest row in the men's table.

Sasho Cirovski has run the program since 1993, so all three modern titles are his, across 33 seasons. Maryland plays at Ludwig Field and led the country in attendance in 2016 at over 4,000 a match. The Terps took the Big Ten regular season in 2025 at 8-0-2.

Stanford

Stanford is the only school in the top ten of both polls with titles on both sides. The men won three in a row from 2015 to 2017, one of only two programs ever to do that. The women won in 2011, 2017 and 2019.

The women finished 2025 ranked second and lost the final to Florida State. The men finished ninth.

Net price is $13,807, which catches out anyone who assumes the sticker price is what you'd pay.

Florida State

Florida State is the strongest women's program of the last decade. It won its fifth national title in 2025, beating top ranked Stanford 1-0, and all five have come since 2014.

It's also the cheapest school at the top of either table. Net price is $11,297 and 85.6% of students graduate.

Brian Pensky arrived in 2022 and two of the five titles are his, in 2023 and 2025. Florida State is 70-7-12 under him, the best win percentage in the country across those four years.

Duke

Duke finished 2025 ranked third in the women's poll and has never won the national title.

Duke has the highest graduation rate on either table at 96.8%, and a net price of $29,612, which is less than several public universities ranked below it.

Duke plays in the ACC at Koskinen Stadium. Robbie Church built the program across 24 seasons and left after 2024, the year Duke was the tournament's number one overall seed for the first time. Kieran Hall took over for 2025 and finished third in the country.

TCU

TCU finished fourth in the women's poll and reached the College Cup, where Florida State ended its run. No titles yet.

Five years ago TCU wasn't on lists like this one. That's the argument for building the list from the current season instead of inheriting whatever the last version said.

TCU plays in the Big 12 and has won the regular season title four times in six years. The 2025 College Cup was its first, earned by beating top seeded Vanderbilt 2-1 in overtime.

Eric Bell is only the third head coach in the program's history and is now its winningest.

The historic powers, and where they stand now

These programs built their name before you were born. Some are still winning, some aren't, and that difference matters more than the trophy count does.

North Carolina

The UNC women hold 23 national championships, 22 NCAA titles plus the 1981 AIAW title, and no other women's program has more than five.

Seven of those came in 2000 or later, the most recent in 2024, so this isn't a program living off the 1980s. It finished 2025 ranked joint 13th.

The men have two modern titles of their own, in 2001 and 2011, which almost nobody remembers.

Indiana

Indiana has eight men's national championships, second only to Saint Louis, and three of them came this century: 2003, 2004 and 2012.

The Hoosiers finished 2025 ranked 22nd. Net price is $16,264, which makes this the cheapest way into a program with that much history.

Indiana also owns the longest active NCAA tournament streak in the country at 38 seasons, and Todd Yeagley, in charge since 2010, is the winningest active coach in Division I men's soccer. Home is Bill Armstrong Stadium, where the 2025 opener against Clemson drew 6,395.

Virginia

Virginia has seven men's titles, including four in a row from 1991 to 1994 under Bruce Arena, and two modern ones in 2009 and 2014.

It finished 2025 ranked 11th, and the women finished eighth, so both programs are live.

95.6% of students graduate, the highest of any public university on either table.

UCLA

UCLA's men won four titles, the last in 2002. The women won in 2013 and 2022 and finished 2025 ranked 22nd.

So the men are here on history and the women on both. Net price is $12,548 for a school with a 92.6% graduation rate, which is the best value on either table.

Both programs moved to the Big Ten in 2024 and play at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, which seats 2,145. The men won the Big Ten tournament in 2025, in only their second season in the league.

Clemson

Clemson has four men's national championships, and two of them are recent: 2021 and 2023.

It didn't finish 2025 in the top 25. Both things are true at the same time, and a page that shows you only one of them is selling you something.

Mike Noonan is in his sixteenth season and both modern titles are his. Clemson plays at Historic Riggs Field, where it's 123-37-17 under him, and made the NCAA tournament for the 38th time in 2025.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame's men won in 2013. The women won in 1995, 2004 and 2010, and finished 2025 ranked 11th.

The old version of this page said Notre Dame had won a national championship without saying which team did it. Three of the four titles here belong to the women.

The women have reached twelve College Cups, and both programs play in the ACC at Alumni Stadium.

Akron

Akron's 2010 title was the first team national championship in the school's history in any sport, and the program finished 2025 ranked 12th.

Read the last column before you fall in love with it. Net price is $13,946, which is low, but only 51.9% of students graduate, the second worst on the men's table.

What Akron really produces is professionals. More than 50 Zips have turned pro since 2006, and since 2008 no program has sent more players into the top five of the MLS SuperDraft, eight of them, including first overall picks Steve Zakuani and Joao Moutinho.

Wake Forest

Wake Forest won its first national title in 2007, beating Ohio State 2-1, and has been a regular in the tournament since.

It didn't finish 2025 ranked, so it's here for what it won rather than how it just played.

It reached the NCAA tournament for the 14th straight season in 2024, a streak second only to Indiana's, and plays at Spry Stadium. Bobby Muuss has won three ACC tournament titles since arriving in 2015.

Frequently asked questions

Is this list for men's soccer or women's soccer?

Both, and they're deliberately kept apart, because they're different lists. Portland's men finished the 2025 season ranked sixth in the country while its women didn't make the top 25 at all.

Florida State's women have won five national titles since 2014 and its men don't play Division I. A single blended soccer ranking will point you at the wrong school in one direction or the other.

Which college has won the most NCAA soccer championships?

Saint Louis on the men's side with ten, all won between 1959 and 1973. North Carolina on the women's side with 23, which is 22 NCAA titles plus the 1981 AIAW title, and no other women's program has more than five.

Don't compare those two numbers to each other: the women's championship didn't start until 1982.

Can you play top level college soccer at a school that has never won a title?

Yes, and several of the best teams in 2025 were exactly that. NC State reached the national final without a title in its history.

Furman finished third, Princeton eighth, Bryant tenth, and none of them has ever won it. A trophy cabinet tells you about a school's past, not about the team you'd be joining.

Does a low net price mean a weaker soccer program?

No, and the table flips that assumption often enough to be worth checking. Marshall finished 2025 ranked 17th with a net price of $7,502, the lowest on either table, and won the national title in 2020. Princeton finished eighth at $6,128.

Meanwhile Santa Clara, which has two women's titles, has a net price of $50,062. Cost and soccer strength barely track each other, which means you can afford to be picky about both.

How current is the data on this page?

The rankings are the United Soccer Coaches final polls for the 2025 season, published on 16 December 2025 for the men and 9 December 2025 for the women. The championship years run through the 2025 titles won by Washington and Florida State.

Net price and graduation rate come from our own college profiles, which are linked from every school name in the tables.

Bottom line

Pick the table that matches the team you'd play for, then read across the row instead of down the column. A program ranked fourth with a $24,000 net price and one ranked 21st that graduates 43.5% of its students aren't the same offer, whatever the soccer says.

And if a school you love is missing from both tables, that's the rule working rather than an oversight. It hasn't won anything this century and it didn't finish last season in the top 25. Those are the only two ways in.

Once you have three or four you like, open their profiles and look at the things a soccer ranking will never tell you: what the place costs you, how many people finish, how big it is. That's the half of the decision you'll still be living with long after your last season.