Columbia University is an Ivy League college in NCAA Division 1 with a total undergraduate enrollment of 8,842, while its sister college, Barnard College, a women’s only college, has an undergraduate enrollment of 3,008 bringing the their combined undergraduate enrollment to 11,850.

Columbia University has a total of 13 NCAA Men’s sports with 396 athletes, and Columbia and Barnard combined have a total of 15 women’s NCAA sports with 413 athletes making the 809 athletes just 7% of the combined undergraduate population at Columbia and Barnard.

Both Columbia and Barnard are highly likely to have recruited many of the athletes on their NCAA sports team through the Division 1 athlete recruitment process, enabling these recruited athletes to leapfrog the normal admissions process. It is our best estimate based on team profiles that 50% to 75% of their teams comprise of recruited athletes while the remaining athletes are “walk-on” athletes who were admitted to Columbia and Barnard on merits unrelated to sports.

How Top Division 1 Colleges Select their Athlete Recruits

Table of Sports Played and Team Sizes at Columbia University/Barnard College

The table below lists the sports played at Columbia/Barnard and the total number of athletes on each of their sports teams.