Understanding the New NCAA Scholarship Limits: What It Means for Your Recruiting Journey

NEW YORK, NY, August 6, 2024 – The 2025-2026 season for the NCAA Division I sports will be monumental in the history of college athletics, as it will be unlike anything we’ve seen before. On Friday, July 26th, the NCAA released an update on the three antitrust lawsuits (House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA, and Carter v. NCAA) related to the settlement between college athletes, the NCAA, and its five major conferences. Formal settlement documents were filed with the Northern District Court of California and have not yet been approved by the courts.  It is expected for them to be reviewed on September 5th, 2024.  The documents addressed three primary issues, which are: 

• The payment of back damages to student-athletes who were denied NIL opportunities as far back as 2016. This substantial sum, approximately $2.78 billion over the next ten years, is a significant step towards rectifying past injustices. It is anticipated that 83% of this backpay, roughly $2.3 billion, will be distributed to approximately 19,000 football and men’s basketball players, primarily from the Power 5 conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and the former athletes of the Pac-12). 
• Increased benefits that student-athletes receive from NIL opportunities, which would be able to come directly from their institutions for the first time. In addition to NIL payments from third parties having a review process, the most groundbreaking piece of this issue is that, starting in 2025, active student-athletes will receive up to 22% of their school’s annual revenue. This is expected to be in the neighborhood of $20-$22 million starting in 2025 and will grow incrementally each year after that. 
• Lastly, scholarship limits will be eliminated in all sports at the NCAA DI Level. NCAA DI programs will now regulate the number of athletes on each team by implementing roster limits, with many sports receiving an increase in the number of potential players they can have on the team.

This article will focus on the impact of the new roster limits on prospective student-athletes who are directly affected by this change. We will continue to monitor the additional two primary issues outlined above and summarize that information in a future article. 

What Are the New Roster Limits? 

Pending approval by the courts, approximately 790 additional scholarship spots will be available across the over 40 NCAA sports referred to in the settlement. Schools will be permitted to offer a scholarship to every player on a team if they choose to do so, but they are not required to provide scholarships to every student-athlete on their roster. Leaders in several team sports, such as baseball, softball, and lacrosse, have expressed how challenging it is to divvy up their scholarship pool when their total student-athletes are significantly higher than the allotted amount they received. This is an exciting opportunity for many programs that feel limited in how they can recruit their future athletes. 

There is also a shift to all sports following the equivalency scholarship model, which allows partial scholarships to be provided to student-athletes This removes the current ‘head-count’ model in sports like football, basketball, and women’s volleyball, which requires full scholarships for anyone receiving athletic aid. 

The entire list of the updated roster limits can be found below, but here are some of the highlights of the new roster limits model pending approval by the court: 

• Football currently at 85 “full-ride” scholarships are available, roster limits will increase to 105. Partial scholarships will be an option to provide athletes. 
• Baseball currently at 11.7 scholarships can be divided among its players, will now have a roster limit of 34. 
• Softball currently at 12 scholarships can be divided among its players, will now have a roster limit of 25
• Men’s basketball will add two more roster spots, increasing the number of potential scholarships from 13 to 15. They will also make the transition to allowing partial scholarships. 
• Women’s basketball already had 15 available scholarships, which will remain the same as the total roster limit, and will also provide the option to offer partial scholarships. 
• Men’s lacrosse currently at 12.6 scholarships can be divided among its players, will now have a roster limit of 48. 
• Women’s lacrosse currently at 12 scholarships can be divided among its players, will now have a roster limit of 38. 
• Women’s volleyball currently at 12 “full-ride” scholarships are available, will now have a roster limit of 18, with partial scholarships being an option.
  
  

How Will This Impact How Schools Use Scholarships? 

Many Division I schools are expected to “tier” sports within their athletic department and invest heavily in the sports they want to make the most impact. Schools with football and basketball will likely put most of their resources into those programs, as those sports tend to generate the most revenue. 

The teams that could be negatively impacted by this rule are the sports each school determines to have in their lowest tier. This could lead to a decrease in resources available to that team, including salary cuts, removal of staff, or even a reduction in the number of scholarships available. 

How Will Title IX Impact Roster Limits? 

At the time of this article’s writing, it is unclear how much Title IX will play a role in the availability of scholarships. Still, it is expected that any scholarship increases that men’s programs receive will need to be matched on the women’s side of that particular sport. For example, an athletic department will likely utilize the same amount of scholarships for their men’s and women’s soccer programs. 

Suppose an athletic department decides to increase its scholarship use in football. In that case, it may be expected to provide additional scholarships in other women’s programs to balance the athletic aid available to athletes at each institution. This could lead to some men’s programs having to decrease their total scholarships to offset the increase the football program would be taking on. 

How Will Roster Limits Impact Student-Athletes Currently in the Recruiting Process? 

The NCAA’s new scholarship limits mark a significant overhaul to enhance student-athlete opportunities across multiple sports. They are supported by the new revenue-sharing framework designed to reshape collegiate athletics funding. 

Student-athletes who are in the graduating high school class of 2025 or younger will be among the first student-athletes who will be directly impacted by these changes. If you are one of those student-athletes, there will be an increase in the number of scholarships available, which means more opportunities for people to receive aid as a student-athlete at the DI level. Another benefit of the roster limit is that athletic departments at the most profitable colleges will not be able to “stockpile” an abundance of student-athletes, which should keep a level playing field for those who may be looking at Non-Power Five Schools or colleges that don’t offer football. 

These changes could disadvantage athletes who compete in non-revenue NCAA sports. Football, basketball, or other sports that bring in ticket sales or television broadcasting rights will likely be in the top sports tier for most colleges and universities. If athletic departments need to invest heavily in their revenue sports to keep up with their counterparts, you could see budget cuts in non-revenue sports that may lead to lower salaries for coaches, less support staff, or even a dip in how many scholarships are offered by the program. The worst-case scenario would be for athletic departments to completely remove certain sports because of the financial stress of maintaining a competitive program in sports that generate more revenue. This has only been speculated in the media, and there have not been program cuts specifically in anticipation of this settlement. It will be important to stay in close contact with the schools you are interested in so you know how the announcement of these roster limits impacts them. 

How SportsRecruits Can Help You Take Advantage of the New Roster Limits 

Now that you understand that more scholarships could be available at the schools on your target list, there are several ways you can use your SportsRecruits to maximize your opportunities to become a Division I Student-Athlete. 

• Make sure your profile is fully up-to-date. Some college programs have been told they can bring in more scholarship athletes than expected. Even if you are in the class of 2025 and entering your final year of high school, it’s important to have the most accurate information on your profile for college coaches to evaluate. Start by adding any new video footage you can access from this summer, as that is the first piece of recruiting information coaches look for when evaluating new talent. You can also add your most current academic transcript, any new awards or accolades you’ve received, or your upcoming event schedule to make coaches aware of when they may be able to see you compete in person. 
• Proactively Communicate with Your Target List of Schools- The SportsRecruits messaging system makes contacting any college coach in the country easy. Now would be an excellent time to check back in with schools you’ve lost contact with to see where they are with your recruiting class. Find out if they are still looking for your position to determine if that school will stay on your list. If they are interested, try to set up a phone call to learn more about their program and how these updated roster limits may impact their recruiting timeline. 
• Don’t Forget About Other Divisions- These changes directly affect NCAA Division I athletics, but that doesn’t mean you should only focus on schools at that level. Here at SportsRecruits, we recommend casting a wide net when building your target list of schools; these updates do not change that recommendation. The SportsRecruits School Search System allows you to find schools based on location, academic selectivity, size, division, conference, and more!

Summary 

A new age of NCAA Division I College Athletics is imminent. These changes will still take effect officially, but student-athletes should prepare for significant changes to the current legislation their sport follows. Follow SportsRecruits on our social media channels to stay informed on the NCAA Settlement and how student-athletes can manage their recruiting process intelligently and efficiently. 

Join us on Wednesday, August 28th @ 7:00pm ET to discuss the pending NCAA settlement and new roster limits. Register here!

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Full List of Proposed Roster Limit Updates for 2025-2026 

Sport	Sport Gender	Old Roster Limit	New Roster Limit	Roster Limit Increase
Baseball	Men	11.7	34	22.3
Basketball	Men	13	15	2
Basketball	Women	15	15	0
Beach volleyball	Women	6	19	13
Bowling	Women	5	11	6
Cross country	Men	5	17	12
Cross country	Women	6	17	11
Equestrian	Women	15	50	35
Fencing	Men	4.5	24	19.5
Fencing	Women	5	24	19
Field hockey	Women	12	27	15
Football	Men	85	105	20
Golf	Men	4.5	9	4.5
Golf	Women	6	9	3
Gym	Men	6.3	20	13.7
Gym	Women	12	20	8
Ice hockey	Men	18	26	8
Ice hockey	Women	18	26	8
Track	Men	12.6	45	35.4
Track	Women	18	45	27
Tumbling	Women	14	55	41
Lacrosse	Men	12.6	48	35.4
Lacrosse	Women	12	38	26
Rifle	Both	3.6	12	8.4
Rowing	Women	20	68	48
Skiing	Men	6.3	16	9.7
Skiing	Women	7	16	9
Soccer	Men	9.9	28	18.1
Soccer	Women	14	28	14
Softball	Women	12	25	13
Stunt	Both	14	65	51
Swim	Men	9.9	30	20.1
Swim	Women	14	30	16
Tennis	Men	4.5	10	5.5
Tennis	Women	8	10	2
Triathlon	Women	6.5	14	7.5
Volleyball	Men	4.5	18	13.5
Volleyball	Women	12	18	6
Water polo	Men	4.5	24	19.5
Water polo	Women	8	24	16
Wrestling	Men	9.9	30	20.1
Wrestling	Women	10	30	20