Track & Field Teams at the Top Colleges
Track and Field is one of the most popular NCAA sports at the highly selective colleges for both men and women. Overall, 56 of the 61 highly selective colleges have men’s track teams and 60 of the 61 highly selective colleges have women’s track teams, with a total of 5,169 athletes across all the colleges.
Of the 57 colleges with men’s track teams, 27 of them belong in Division 1 with 1,245 athletes and 30 of them belong in Division 3 with 1,344 athletes, totaling 2,589 athletes together in the 2021/2022 season.
Of the 60 colleges with women’s track teams, 30 of them belong in Division 1 with 1,366 athletes and 30 of them belong in Division 3 with 1,214 athletes, totaling 2,580 athletes together in the 2021/2022 season.
Track and Field NCAA Rules and Calendar for Athlete Recruitment
How do top colleges in Division 1 select their athlete recruits?
Athlete Recruitment to a Top NCAA Division 3 College
List of Highly Selective Colleges with Track and Field Teams
Below is a list of the top colleges with track and field teams and the NCAA Division they belong in.
All data is compiled directly from the colleges’ athletic websites
| Track at Highly Selective Colleges | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's | Women's | ||
| Division | Track | Track | |
| Amherst College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Babson College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Barnard College (comb w/ Columbia University) | I | No | Yes |
| Bates College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Boston College | I | Yes | Yes |
| Boston University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Bowdoin College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Brown University | I | Yes | Yes |
| California Institute of Technology | III | Yes | Yes |
| Carleton College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Carnegie Mellon University | III | Yes | Yes |
| Claremont McKenna College (incl Harvey Mudd) | III | Yes | Yes |
| Colby College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Colgate University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Colorado College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Columbia University (incl Barnard College) | I | Yes | Yes |
| Cornell University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Dartmouth College | I | Yes | Yes |
| Davidson College | I | Yes | Yes |
| Duke University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Emory University | III | Yes | Yes |
| Georgetown University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | I | Yes | Yes |
| Grinnell College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Hamilton College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Harvard University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Harvey Mudd College (comb w/Claremont McKenna) | III | Yes | Yes |
| Haverford College | III | Yes | Yes |
| John Hopkins University | III | Yes | Yes |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | III | Yes | Yes |
| Middleburry College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Northeastern University | I | Yes | Yes |
| New York University | III | Yes | Yes |
| Pitzer College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Pomona College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Princeton University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Rice University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Stanford University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Swathmore College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Tufts University | III | Yes | Yes |
| Tulane University | I | No | Yes |
| University of California Berkeley | I | Yes | Yes |
| University of California Los Angeles | I | Yes | Yes |
| University of Michigan | I | Yes | Yes |
| University of Chicago | III | Yes | Yes |
| University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill | I | Yes | Yes |
| University of Notre Dame | I | Yes | Yes |
| University of Pennsylvania | I | Yes | Yes |
| University of Southern California | I | Yes | Yes |
| University of Virginia | I | Yes | Yes |
| Vanderbilt University | I | No | Yes |
| Vassar College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Villanova University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Wake Forest University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Washington and Lee University | III | Yes | Yes |
| Washington University in St. Louis | III | Yes | Yes |
| Wellesley College | III | No | Yes |
| Wesleyan University | III | Yes | Yes |
| Williams College | III | Yes | Yes |
| Yale University | I | Yes | Yes |
| Total Athletes | 2,589 | 2,580 |
Watch out for the latest on
How to get recruited to the track & field team at a top college?
Track & field team profiles at the top colleges