Note: This site will shut down at the end of 2026: Due to the dismantling of the US Department of Education, many of the data collection and reporting functions that the department historically conducted are either being severely impacted or discontinued entirely. While we source and integrate data from a number of sources, the data historically provided by the Department is / was a key component in our compilation process. The data currently on this site will remain available during 2026 but will not be updated.
46 US Colleges sponsor varsity Fencing teams:
| # of teams | Total Athletes | Average team size | Scholarship limit | Average Scholarship | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Men's | Women's | Men | Women | Men's | Women's | Men | Women | Men | Women | |||||
| NCAA I |  | 23 | 28 | | 444 | 506 | | 19 | 18 | | 24 | 24 | | 16,802 | 18,400 |
| NCAA II | 1 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 6,031 | 7,197 | |||||
| NCAA III | 11 | 15 | 228 | 241 | 21 | 16 | - | - | |||||||
| NAIA | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | - | - | |||||||
| Totals | 36 | 45 | 689 | 765 | 19 | 17 | |||||||||
Fencing is an equivalency sport for NCAA II scholarship purposes, so partial scholarships can be awarded to meet the limit per school. For example, an NCAA Division II school can award 9 fencers each a 1/2 scholarship and not exceed the limit of 4.5 per team. NCAA I Scholarship limits for 2025-26 have been significantly increased as part of the House v NCAA settlement.
* Average 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 Fencing teams:
Hover over individual states on the map below to see how many schools sponsor varsity fencing programs. The table following the map has information on each sponsoring school and links to all 46 team sites.
Schools sponsoring varsity Fencing teams 2024-25
| US Colleges with varsity Fencing teams 2024-25 | City / Campus | State | Division | Teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Stanford University | Palo Alto | CA | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| University of California-San Diego | La Jolla | CA | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| U.S. Air Force Academy | Colorado Springs | CO | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Sacred Heart University | Fairfield | CT | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Yale University | New Haven | CT | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Savannah College of Art & Design | Atlanta | GA | NAIA | M | W | ||
| Northwestern University | Evanston | IL | NCAA I | W | |||
| University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame | IN | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Boston College | Chestnut Hill | MA | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Brandeis University | Waltham | MA | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| Harvard University | Cambridge | MA | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | MA | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| Tufts University | Medford | MA | NCAA III | W | |||
| Wellesley College | Wellesley | MA | NCAA III | W | |||
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore | MD | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| University of Detroit Mercy | Detroit | MI | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Wayne State University | Detroit | MI | NCAA II | M | W | ||
| Duke University | Durham | NC | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| University of North Carolina | Chapel Hill | NC | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Drew University | Madison | NJ | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| Fairleigh Dickinson University | Teaneck | NJ | NCAA I | W | |||
| New Jersey Institute of Technology | Newark | NJ | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Princeton University | Princeton | NJ | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken | NJ | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| Barnard (Columbia Univ) | New York | NY | NCAA I | W | |||
| City College of New York | New York | NY | NCAA III | W | |||
| Columbia University | New York | NY | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Cornell University | Ithaca | NY | NCAA I | W | |||
| Hunter College | New York | NY | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| Long Island University | Brooklyn | NY | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| New York University | New York | NY | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| St John's University | Queens | NY | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Vassar College | Poughkeepsie | NY | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| Wagner College | Staten Island | NY | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Yeshiva University | New York | NY | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| Cleveland State University | Cleveland | OH | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Denison University | Granville | OH | NCAA III | W | |||
| Ohio State University | Columbus | OH | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Haverford College | Haverford | PA | NCAA III | M | W | ||
| Lafayette College | Easton | PA | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Pennsylvania State University | University Park | PA | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Temple University | Philadelphia | PA | NCAA I | W | |||
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | PA | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Brown University | Providence | RI | NCAA I | W | |||
| University of the Incarnate Word | San Antonio | TX | NCAA I | M | W | ||
| Lawrence University | Appleton | WI | NCAA III | M | W |
Do you have the skills to compete in College Fencing?
What level of athlete 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 fencers currently on the roster of schools that interest you.
