125 Schools sponsor varsity Water Polo teams:
| # of teams | Total Athletes | Average team size | Scholarship limit | Average Scholarship * | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Schools | Men's | Women's | Men | Women | Men's | Women's | Men | Women | Men | Women | |||||
| NCAA I | 42 |  | 29 | 37 | | 774 | 854 | | 27 | 23 | | 4.5 | 8 | | 16,624 | 17,735 |
| NCAA II | 10 | 7 | 10 | 145 | 208 | 21 | 21 | 4.5 | 8 | 7,217 | 8,047 | |||||
| NCAA III | 25 | 17 | 20 | 320 | 339 | 19 | 17 | - | - | - | - | |||||
| CCCAA | 44 | 35 | 44 | 594 | 604 | 17 | 14 | - | - | - | - | |||||
| NAIA | 4 | 4 | 4 | 69 | 49 | 17 | 12 | - | - | 7,191 | 6,984 | |||||
| Totals | 125 | 92 | 115 | 1,901 | 2,053 | 21 | 18 | |||||||||
Water Polo is an NCAA equivalency sport, so partial scholarships can be awarded to meet the limit per school. For example, an NCAA I school can award 9 male players each a 1/2 scholarship and not exceed the limit of 4.5 per team. See our page on scholarship limits for more information.
* Avr Athletic Scholarship is the average annual amount of athletically related student aid per athlete for ALL varsity sports sponsored by the specific school. Some athletes receive full awards, some receive partial and many receive none. Additionally some sports within a school may be fully funded, some partially and some sports provide no athletic scholarships.
US Colleges & Universities sponsoring Water Polo teams:
Hover over individual states on the map below to see how many schools sponsor varsity water polo programs – over 75% of high school Water Polo participants are from California, and nearly 70% of schools sponsoring water polo teams are also located in California. The table below the map has school information and links to all 125 team sites.
Water Polo - All Schools:
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Odds of a High School Water Polo Player making a College Varsity Roster 2022:
| College Water Polo Odds 2022: | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of US High School Water Polo Players 2021-22 | | 20,529 | 19,512 |
| Number of College Water Polo Players (see table below) | 1,901 | 2,053 | |
| % of US HS Water Polo Players competing at any College Level | 8.0% | 9.4% | |
| % of US HS Water Polo Players Competing at NCAA I Schools | 3.0% | 3.7% | |
| Odds of a US HS Water Polo Player making any College Roster | 13:1 | 11:1 | |
| Odds of a US HS Water Polo Player making an NCAA I Roster | 34:1 | 29:1 | |
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These are the odds of a random US high school water polo player making a college roster – odds are adjusted for foreign student athlete participation. Actual odds are likely better for most athletes motivated to play in college due to several factors: High school participation includes multi-sport athletes who typically play only one sport in college, many high school athletes do not intend to compete at the college level, and unfortunately, a significant portion of high school students – including athletes – do not go on to college.
Do you have the skills to play College Water Polo?
What level of player are coaches looking for and who are you competing with for a roster spot? A good way to get an idea is to look at the high-school bios of players currently on the roster of schools that interest you.
# of Schools with varsity Water Polo teams by State 2022-23
| # of Schools with varsity Water Polo teams by State 2022-23 | Total | NCAA I | NCAA II | NCAA III | CCCAA | NAIA | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 84 | 19 | 6 | 12 | 44 | 3 | ||
| Pennsylvania | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| New York | 8 | 7 | 1 | |||||
| Maryland | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Massachusetts | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Arizona | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Illinois | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Colorado | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Connecticut | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| District of Columbia | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Hawaii | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Indiana | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Minnesota | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| New Jersey | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Ohio | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Rhode Island | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Texas | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Virginia | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| West Virginia | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 125 | 42 | 10 | 25 | 44 | 4 |