NCAA I Athletic Scholarship Limits 2025-26:
As part of the House v NCAA settlement, scholarship restrictions on all NCAA I sports will be eliminated and roster limits will apply instead. This could create a substantial increase in athletic scholarships especially in non-revenue sports. For example, the scholarship limit in women’s rowing will increase from 20 to 68, in softball from 12 to 25 and in baseball from 11.7 to 34. Here are the new limits under the proposal:
| Scholarship Limits per Sport 2025-26 | Team | Old limit | New limit |
|---|---|---|---|
 | | | |
| Men's NCAA I Sports | |||
| Baseball | M | 11.7 | 34 |
| Basketball | M | 13 | 15 |
| Fencing | M | 4.5 | 24 |
| Football | M | 85 | 105 |
| Golf | M | 4.5 | 9 |
| Gymnastics | M | 6.3 | 20 |
| Hockey | M | 18 | 26 |
| Lacrosse | M | 12.6 | 48 |
| Skiing | M | 6.3 | 16 |
| Soccer | M | 9.9 | 28 |
| Swimming | M | 9.9 | 30 |
| Tennis | M | 4.5 | 10 |
| Track / X-C | M | 12.6 | 62 |
| Volleyball | M | 4.5 | 18 |
| Water polo | M | 4.5 | 24 |
| Wrestling | M | 9.9 | 30 |
| Women's NCAA I Sports | |||
| Basketball | W | 15 | 15 |
| Beach Volleyball | W | 6 | 19 |
| Bowling | W | 5 | 11 |
| Equestrian | W | 15 | 50 |
| Fencing | W | 5 | 24 |
| Field hockey | W | 12 | 27 |
| Golf | W | 6 | 9 |
| Gymnastics | W | 12 | 20 |
| Hockey | W | 18 | 26 |
| Lacrosse | W | 12 | 38 |
| Rowing | W | 20 | 68 |
| Rugby | W | 12 | 36 |
| Skiing | W | 7 | 16 |
| Soccer | W | 14 | 28 |
| Softball | W | 12 | 25 |
| Swimming | W | 14 | 30 |
| Tennis | W | 8 | 10 |
| Track / X-C | W | 18 | 62 |
| Triathlon | W | 6.5 | 14 |
| Acrobatics | W | 14 | 55 |
| Volleyball | W | 12 | 18 |
| Water polo | W | 8 | 24 |
| Wrestling | W | 10 | 30 |
| Mixed / Coed Sports | |||
| Rifle | Mix | 3.6 | 12 |
| Stunt | Mix | 14 | 65 |
The potential impact of these additional awards is massive. Under our calculations, NCAA I schools could potentially award over 80,000 additional “full-ride” scholarships. Assuming a value of $ 35,000 annually per scholarship, this would result in around $ 3 billion in additional scholarship awards per year – substantially more than the estimated $ 1.8 billion in revenue sharing payments projected for 2025-26.
But the actual increase is going to be substantially less than $ 3 billion. Scholarships awards are optional – a school can fully fund a sport or make awards less than the maximum allowed. Many schools already operate with roster sizes less than the NCAA limit, and they will have a new financial incentive to operate with even smaller teams.
And sadly, we’re likely to see cuts to non-revenue sports at many schools. Athletic directors are looking at a new reality where the costs of sponsoring a non-revenue sport are likely to increase significantly, while the historical offsetting subsidy from sports such as football is being substantially decreased due to new revenue sharing obligations – $ 20.5 million annually for virtually all Power Conference Schools. There are likely going to be painful decisions to make about non-revenue sports at many schools.
See our sister site NIL-NCAA.com for more information on Division I revenue Sharing.