By GetRecruited
Introduction
A rider who shows hunt seat and a rider who shows Western are, for recruiting, chasing two partly different sports — and the email from a coach rarely says which one the program actually competes. So before you weigh a single school, there's an earlier question: does this program ride the seat you ride, and will it have an opening in your event the year you'd arrive? Get that wrong and nothing else about the school matters.
Helpfully, the field is tiny. There are 39 women's college equestrian programs in the whole country — few enough that you can recognize almost all of them by name long before you record a riding video. That isn't a limitation; it's leverage. Your job here isn't to dig for programs that exist. It's to take a short, knowable list and narrow it to the handful of barns where your discipline, your grades, and what your family can spend all point the same direction.
What follows lays all 39 out from public records: how they break down by division, how many seats tend to come open in a year, what families actually pay, and which schools pair a degree worth having with a bill you can carry. Read it before a coach's warmth — or one good campus visit — quietly makes the decision for you.
A field this small works in your favor — you can study every program before committing to one. Build a recruiting plan that sorts these 39 barns by discipline, division, and what your family can afford, so you reach the right coaches first instead of every coach at once.
Landscape
Division I holds half the barns.
Equestrian is one of the rare college sports where Division I is the largest tier rather than the smallest. Of the 39 women's programs, 19 ride D1 — 49% of the sport, just under half. Division III is next at 12 programs (31%), and the last eight split between Division II (3), the NAIA (2), and junior college (3). So the mental image most people have of the sport — D1 barns — isn't off the way it is elsewhere. Roughly half the programs really are there.
The other half still deserves a look. A D3 or NAIA program rides under different rules and offers a different version of college life, and plenty of them compete hard. Counting the tiers first keeps you from treating the 19 D1 schools as the whole sport when they're really the biggest slice of it.
The divisions also don't compete the way the labels suggest. D1 programs ride the NCEA format, while many D3, NAIA, and two-year schools compete through the IHSA, where riders draw their horses by lot rather than bringing their own. Which of those worlds a program lives in shapes your week-to-week far more than the letter next to its name.
A note on scope: varsity equestrian is almost entirely a women's sport. Exactly one men's varsity program appears in the data — Centenary University, at D3 — and men otherwise ride through the coed IHSA club circuit, so college equestrian in scholarship terms is effectively the women's game described here.
The programs gather in a few states. New York leads with 5, then California and Texas with 4 apiece, then Massachusetts and Pennsylvania with 3 each. Those five states alone hold 49% of the sport — nearly half of college equestrian sitting in five of the 22 states that field it.
For a riding family, where a school sits is rarely a side note. The Northeast and Southeast carry much of the D1 NCEA competition, while California's programs lean toward the two-year and IHSA side. Location decides the meets you'll travel to, what it costs to get your family there, and whether you could keep your own horse anywhere close — all worth weighing before a map of 22 states starts to look like 22 equal choices.
Roster size
A roster is a set of seats across disciplines.
The average women's equestrian roster carries about 30 riders, but the figure swings hard by division. D1 programs run large — 39.5 riders on average, median 39 — because the NCEA format fields entries across several disciplines at every meet. The smaller tiers run lean: D2 averages 22.7, the NAIA 22, D3 17.3, and junior-college programs 13.7. A big roster isn't a deep bench so much as a spread of seats across the events a team has to fill.
What a coach signs you for is a seat in your discipline — a hunt seat entry, a Western entry — not a generic roster line. A program can carry 39 riders and have no room in the event you ride, while a smaller barn may be looking for exactly your seat. That's why the roster total tells you almost nothing until you ask which entries a coach still needs.
Seats reopen every year as seniors leave. Using a plain estimate — about a quarter of a roster turning over annually, half at the two-year level — D1 programs open roughly 9.9 seats each in a typical year, around 188 across all 19 D1 barns. D3 opens about 4.3 per program (52 in all), D2 around 5.7 (17), the NAIA 5.5 (11), and junior colleges about 6.8 each (21). These are estimates; a coach's real need turns on who graduates and in which discipline. Still, the sport refills steadily rather than sitting shut.
| Division | Programs | Avg roster | Open spots, total | Open spots, pr. program |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | 19 | 39.5 | 188/year | 9.9/year |
| D2 | 3 | 22.7 | 17/year | 5.7/year |
| D3 | 12 | 17.3 | 52/year | 4.3/year |
| NAIA | 2 | 22.0 | 11/year | 5.5/year |
| JUCO | 3 | 13.7 | 21/year | 6.8/year |
Roster totals run wide even within a division. At D1, Baylor carries 61 riders while Dartmouth fields 15, and the gap repeats at the smaller tiers. A large roster is a spread of seats across hunt seat and Western, not a guaranteed opening in your event — so the figure that matters is a specific program's roster against the entries it still needs and the size of its last recruiting class.
Roster size, by division
| Program | Roster |
|---|---|
| Baylor University Big 12 Conference | 61 |
| University of Georgia Southeastern Conference | 54 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station Southeastern Conference | 54 |
| Long Island University Independent | 52 |
| Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Big 12 Conference | 49 |
| Auburn University Southeastern Conference | 45 |
| University of South Carolina-Columbia Southeastern Conference | 45 |
| Texas Christian University Big 12 Conference | 44 |
| The University of Tennessee-Martin Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | 41 |
| Sacred Heart University Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | 39 |
Academics
Strong academics ride well below the D1 line.
Graduation rate — the share of students who finish their degree — runs highest in D1 here at 75% on average, with D2 at 64% and D3 at 57%. The two-year and NAIA programs sit lower at 45% and 33%, which partly reflects that junior-college students often transfer out rather than finish on campus. First-year retention, the share of freshmen who come back for sophomore year, follows the same shape: 88% in D1, 82% in D2, 75% in D3.
The averages hide how strong the best individual schools are, and they aren't all in Division I. Three of the country's most selective universities ride this sport: Cornell graduates 95% of its students and its alumni earn about $87,830 six years out — what graduates make roughly half a decade after college — while Dartmouth and Brown each graduate 96%, with earnings near $82,541 and $79,131. All three admit between 5% and 9% of applicants, so the riding is one piece of a very hard admissions puzzle.
Drop below D1 and the strong degrees keep coming. In D2, Stonehill College graduates 76% of students with earnings around $63,285. In D3, Mount Holyoke College graduates 84% and SUNY Geneseo 71% — Geneseo at a public price most private colleges can't match. Across the sport the lesson holds: a program's division tells you very little about the quality of its classroom.
Strongest academics, by division
| Program | Acceptance rate | Graduation rate | Median earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dartmouth College Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | 5% | 96% | $82,541 |
| Brown University Independent | 5% | 96% | $79,131 |
| Cornell University Independent | 9% | 95% | $87,830 |
| University of Georgia Southeastern Conference | 38% | 90% | $57,565 |
| University of California-Davis Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | 42% | 86% | $58,461 |
| Texas Christian University Big 12 Conference | 45% | 85% | $60,435 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station Southeastern Conference | 57% | 84% | $59,386 |
| Southern Methodist University Independent | 63% | 84% | $65,556 |
| Auburn University Southeastern Conference | 46% | 82% | $54,629 |
| Baylor University Big 12 Conference | 51% | 80% | $56,532 |
Cost
A state barn's tuition runs far below a private one's.
Net price — what a family actually pays per year after grants and aid, not the sticker figure — is the number to anchor on, and it tracks less with division than most families expect. Across the sport, public schools average $15,330 a year after aid; private schools average $30,055. That roughly $15,000 gap is wider than the spread between any two divisions, which means whether a school is state-funded usually matters more to your bill than whether it rides D1 or D3.
Look division by division and the public-private split shows up inside each tier. A public D1 program averages $18,122 after aid against $35,335 at a private D1; D3 runs $16,907 public versus $26,836 private. The two-year level is the cheapest corner of the sport at about $6,798, and at the NAIA, public programs come in around $7,326. The full range is dramatic — from roughly $2,152 a year at College of the Sequoias to well above $33,000 at some private campuses.
None of these figures cover the cost of riding itself — board, lessons, travel to meets, and gear — which sits outside what the college bills. We flag it because for an equestrian family it's real money stacked on top of net price, and it's worth asking each program how much of it the team picks up.
Average net price per year, after grant and scholarship aid
There's a quiet assumption that the cheap option is the lesser one — a low bill buys a weaker school. These programs are the counter-evidence. Among publics, the University of Georgia (D1) joins a $16,662 net price to a 90% graduation rate, and UC Davis (D1) sits at $17,270 with 86%. In D3, SUNY Geneseo combines a $19,115 net price with a 71% graduation rate — a strong result at a public price. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods leads the NAIA on value at $20,451, and College of the Sequoias anchors the two-year tier near $2,152. None of these wears the biggest logo, which is rather the point: value lives where the bill and the outcome both work.
Lowest net price, by division
| Program | Net price | Graduation rate |
|---|---|---|
| California State University-Fresno Big 12 Conference | $7,834 | 57% |
| The University of Tennessee-Martin Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | $11,955 | 53% |
| Delaware State University Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | $13,953 | 39% |
| University of Georgia Southeastern Conference | $16,662 | 90% |
| University of California-Davis Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | $17,270 | 86% |
| Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Big 12 Conference | $19,561 | 68% |
| South Dakota State University Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | $19,932 | 62% |
| Dartmouth College Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | $20,322 | 96% |
| College of Charleston Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | $21,004 | 66% |
| Texas A&M University-College Station Southeastern Conference | $21,437 | 84% |
Net price is only part of what equestrian costs a family, and the cheapest sticker isn't always the best value. A recruiting plan lets you set your real budget — tuition plus riding — against each program's outcomes, so you target schools that fit your finances as honestly as they fit your ride.
Resources
The D1 barns spend on a different scale entirely.
Program spending falls into two buckets: scholarships, the athletic aid that goes to riders, and other costs — coaching, travel, horses, facilities, and the rest. The two behave very differently by division. D1 programs spend on a scale nothing else in the sport approaches: about $2.69 million per program on average, of which roughly $1.18 million is scholarships and $1.52 million is everything else. The riding operation costs about as much as the aid does.
Below D1, the budgets fall off sharply. D2 programs average about $230,256 in total spend, the NAIA $94,073, and junior colleges $156,398. Division III runs on a different model entirely: by rule, D3 awards no athletic scholarships, so its roughly $65,411 in average spend is all operating cost — coaching, travel, horse care — and none of it is aid you'd be recruited with. If a scholarship matters to your family, D3 is a place to ride for the degree and the team, not for athletic money.
Average spending per year, by division
Spread across the roster, athletic aid is thickest at the top and thins fast. D1 programs average about $26,848 in athletic aid per roster spot — meaningful, though it's an average across a large roster, not a promise of a full ride to any one rider. D2 falls to roughly $11,049 per spot. The NAIA and two-year programs land near $4,587 and $4,617 each. D3 awards no athletic aid by rule, so it has none to spread. The pattern is worth keeping in mind: outside D1, athletic scholarship money in equestrian is modest, and academic and need-based aid often does more of the work on your bill.
Average athletic aid per roster spot, by division
These are the heaviest spenders in each division — the programs putting the most into their equestrian each year. Total spend is the whole operation; the scholarship column shows how much of it reaches riders directly, the line between a horses-and-travel budget and a scholarship-first one (and at D3, which awards no athletic aid, that column is blank by design). The D1 top is a scale nothing else in the sport reaches: Auburn University spends about $6.26 million, of which $1.65 million is scholarships. SMU, notably, puts more into scholarships ($2.58 million) than into operating costs, while Auburn does the reverse.
The mix hints at what a program prioritizes, but no level of spending answers the only question that decides your search: is there a seat in your event, at a price you can carry?
Highest total spend, by division
| Program | Total spend | Scholarships |
|---|---|---|
| Auburn University Southeastern Conference | $6,264,930 | $1,646,449 |
| Texas Christian University Big 12 Conference | $5,668,329 | $2,310,841 |
| Southern Methodist University Independent | $4,436,977 | $2,579,087 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station Southeastern Conference | $3,955,213 | $1,465,089 |
| Baylor University Big 12 Conference | $3,951,072 | $2,152,103 |
| Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Big 12 Conference | $3,518,366 | $1,058,348 |
| University of Georgia Southeastern Conference | $3,450,285 | $1,381,933 |
| University of South Carolina-Columbia Southeastern Conference | $3,441,249 | $1,220,350 |
| University of California-Davis Eastern College Athletic Conference (Women's Equestrian) | $1,904,391 | $672,586 |
| California State University-Fresno Big 12 Conference | $1,531,302 | $767,613 |
Spending sorts the sport at the very top and says little below it. Use it to gauge what a program can offer, then weigh it lightly — the barn worth your senior year is the one where your ride, your degree, and your bill all line up, whatever its budget.
Conclusion
Taken together, the data points one way: in a sport of 39 programs, the work isn't finding options — it's narrowing a short, knowable field to the few barns that fit. Half the sport rides D1, but strong degrees, manageable bills, and open seats in your discipline are spread across all five divisions, and the letter beside a program's name should be one of the last things you sort on.
Begin with the questions only your family can answer: which seat do you ride, what can you actually pay once riding costs are in, and how far from home can you compete. Hold those up against these 39 programs and the list shrinks to a handful — the ones worth a coach's inbox, a campus visit, and your senior year. That handful is where a real recruiting search starts.
A list of programs isn't a plan yet. Take what you've learned here — your discipline, your budget, your academic targets — and build a recruiting plan that names the specific barns to contact, in what order, and what to ask each coach about openings in your event. In a sport this small, a focused plan is the whole advantage.
Methodology
Roster sizes and program finances — scholarships, operating costs, and total spend — come from the Equity in Athletics Data Analysis (EADA) reports that colleges file with the U.S. Department of Education. Cost, graduation rates, first-year retention, post-college earnings, and admissions figures come from the College Scorecard and IPEDS, the federal higher-education datasets. Net price is what families pay after grants and aid; earnings are median figures measured several years after graduation.
Every figure is calculated within women's equestrian and by division, so comparisons stay inside the sport rather than against college athletics at large. Open-seat estimates assume roughly a quarter of a roster turns over each year (half at the two-year level) and are guides, not guarantees — actual coaching needs depend on who graduates and in which discipline. This report reflects the most recent reporting year available, and figures are updated as new federal data is released.
U.S. Department of Education. Athletic participation and program finances, filed annually by every college.
U.S. Department of Education. Cost, graduation, earnings, and admissions data.
Official season records and results for NCAA D1, D2, and D3.
