Research Trends in the Participation of International Student-Athletes in NCAA Divisions I and II September 2018
Methodology Percentages are based on first-year student-athletes (non-transfers) at Divisions I or II colleges. Similar data are not available for Division III. Student-athletes with a non-u.s. country of origin were categorized as international. Students from the 50 U.S. states and U.S. territories (e.g. Puerto Rico, Guam, etc.) were considered domestic. See Detailed Methods slide for more information. Data include all first-year student-athletes who were in a 2017 Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) cohort or in the 2017 Division II Academic Performance Census (APC). This may exclude some Division I walk-ons and others who do not meet academic tracking inclusion criteria in Divisions I or II.
Overall Trends in International Student-Athlete Participation in Divisions I and II 7.9% 8.4% 9.0% 9.7% 10.3% 10.4% 10.9% 11.9% Division I 3.5% 4.3% 5.1% 5.6% 5.9% 6.6% 6.5% 6.6% Division II 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 1,948 3,173 DII 797 1,906 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Division I
Percentage of International Student-Athletes in Division I Men s Sports 62% 39% 34% 26% 21% 15% 14% 10% 9% 8% 7% 6% 4% 1% <1% <1% Tennis Ice Hockey Soccer Water Polo Golf Basketball Swimming Track Cross Country Volleyball Fencing Lacrosse Gymnastics Baseball Football Wrestling Percentage of International Student-Athletes in Division I Women s Sports 59% 42% 31% 25% 16% 14% 14% 13% 11% 11% 10% 10% 8% 8% 8% 6% 2% <1% Tennis Ice Hockey Golf Field Hockey Water Polo Rowing Gymnastics Swimming Fencing Basketball Soccer Track Bowling Cross Country Volleyball Beach Volleyball Lacrosse Softball Note: Sports with >200 Division I student-athletes. Data shown are for first-year student-athletes (2016-17).
Number of First-Year International Student-Athletes in Division I Men s Sports 312 309 159 156 151 121 96 64 40 36 28 26 <10 <10 <10 <10 Soccer Tennis Basketball Track Ice Hockey 376 Golf Swimming Cross Country Lacrosse Football Water Polo Baseball Volleyball Fencing Gymnastics Wrestling Number of First Year International Student-Athletes in Division I Women s Sports 229 221 151 151 135 101 92 82 80 73 28 23 16 11 <10 <10 <10 Tennis Track Soccer Golf Swimming Basketball Field Hockey Rowing Cross Country Ice Hockey Volleyball Gymnastics Water Polo Lacrosse Softball Bowling Fencing Beach Volleyball Note: Sports with >200 Division I student-athletes. Data shown are for first-year student-athletes (2016-17).
Top Three Countries of Origin Among First-Year International Student-Athletes in Division I Division I Men s Sports Soccer N Tennis N Basketball N Track N CANADA 45 GERMANY 29 CANADA 25 KENYA 30 UNITED KINGDOM 42 SPAIN 26 AUSTRALIA 21 JAMAICA 23 GERMANY 39 UNITED KINGDOM 24 NIGERIA 12 CANADA 21 Division I Women s Sports Tennis N Track N Soccer N Golf N SPAIN 31 CANADA 48 CANADA 80 CANADA 14 UNITED KINGDOM 28 KENYA 23 UNITED KINGDOM 20 SPAIN 12 AUSTRALIA 24 UNITED KINGDOM 22 GERMANY 17 SWEDEN 12 Note: Sports included are the four sports with the highest number of international SA participants. Top three countries of origin for first-year international SAs in the 2016-17 cohort.
Percent Change in the Number of International Student-Athletes in Division I from 2010 to 2017 Division I Men s Sports 2010 2017 % change BASKETBALL 66 159 141% SOCCER 149 312 109% SWIMMING 51 96 88% TRACK 87 156 79% FOOTBALL 21 36 71% CROSS COUNTRY 40 64 60% GOLF 77 121 57% TENNIS 230 309 34% ICE HOCKEY 116 151 30% LACROSSE 33 40 21% Division I Women s Sports 2010 2017 % change FIELD HOCKEY 42 101 140% BASKETBALL 67 135 101% SWIMMING 84 151 80% TRACK 130 229 76% ROWING 53 92 74% SOFTBALL 130 221 70% GOLF 95 151 59% TENNIS 268 376 40% CROSS COUNTRY 63 82 30% VOLLEYBALL 62 73 18% ICE HOCKEY 77 80 4% Note: Sports with >30 first-year international DI student-athletes in 2017. Data shown are for first-year student-athletes (2009-10 and 2016-17).
Change in the Percentage of International Student-Athletes in Division I from 2010 to 2017 Division I Men s Sports 2010 2017 % diff. SOCCER 16% 34% 18% WATER POLO 8% 26% 18% TENNIS 47% 62% 15% BASKETBALL 7% 15% 8% GOLF 14% 21% 7% SWIMMING 8% 14% 6% TRACK 6% 10% 4% CROSS COUNTRY 6% 9% 3% ICE HOCKEY 38% 39% 1% VOLLEYBALL 7% 8% 1% FOOTBALL 0% 1% 1% LACROSSE 6% 6% 0% BASEBALL 1% 1% 0% WRESTLING 0% 0% 0% GYMNASTICS 8% 4% -4% FENCING 17% 7% -10% Note: Graphic is limited to those sports with >200 Division I student-athletes. Data shown are for first-year student-athletes (2009-10 and 2016-17). Division I Women s Sports 2010 2017 % diff. FIELD HOCKEY 12% 25% 13% TENNIS 47% 59% 12% GOLF 20% 31% 11% GYMNASTICS 5% 14% 9% WATER POLO 8% 16% 8% BASKETBALL 6% 11% 5% SWIMMING 8% 13% 5% ROWING 11% 14% 4% SOCCER 7% 10% 3% TRACK 6% 10% 3% BOWLING 6% 8% 2% CROSS COUNTRY 6% 8% 2% VOLLEYBALL 6% 8% 1% LACROSSE 2% 2% 0% SOFTBALL 1% 1% 0% FENCING 13% 11% -1% ICE HOCKEY 46% 42% -4%
Division II
Percentage of International Student-Athletes in Division II Men s Sports 49% 26% 20% 16% 8% 7% 7% 6% 5% 5% 1% 1% 1% Tennis Soccer Golf Swimming Basketball Ice Hockey Volleyball Lacrosse Cross Country Track Baseball Football Wrestling Percentage of International Student-Athletes in Division II Women s Sports 35% 15% 11% 8% 6% 5% 4% 4% 4% 3% 2% 2% 1% 1% Tennis Golf Swimming Field Hockey Soccer Rowing Cross Country Basketball Water Polo Track Lacrosse Volleyball Softball Bowling Note: Sports with >200 Division II student-athletes. Data shown are for first-year student-athletes (2016-17).
465 Number of First-Year International Student-Athletes in Division II Men s Sports 188 122 107 100 72 54 49 46 32 <10 <10 <10 Soccer Tennis Golf Track Basketball Swimming Cross Country Lacrosse Football Baseball Volleyball Ice Hockey Wrestling 185 Number of First-Year International Student-Athletes in Division II Women s Sports 144 74 67 64 47 43 25 24 22 18 11 <10 <10 Tennis Soccer Track Swimming Golf Basketball Cross Country Softball Volleyball Field Hockey Lacrosse Rowing Water Polo Bowling Note: Sports with >200 Division II student-athletes. Data shown are for first-year student-athletes (2016-17).
UNITED KINGDOM Top Three Countries of Origin Among First-Year International Student-Athletes in Division II Division II Men s Sports Soccer N Tennis N Golf N Track N 108 BRAZIL 23 CANADA 25 KENYA 27 GERMANY 49 SPAIN 22 SWEDEN 9 CANADA 13 BRAZIL 32 GERMANY 21 SPAIN 6 JAMAICA 11 Division II Women s Sports Tennis N Soccer N Track N Swimming N SPAIN 33 CANADA 33 CANADA 13 SWEDEN 9 GERMANY 20 SWEDEN 15 GERMANY 13 CANADA 8 BRAZIL 12 UNITED KINGDOM 15 JAMAICA 9 GERMANY, POLAND 5 Note: Sports included are the four sports with the highest number of international SA participants. Top three countries of origin for first-year international SAs in the 2016-17 cohort.
Percent Change in the Number of International Student-Athletes in Division II from 2010 to 2017 Division II Men s Sports 2010 2017 % change FOOTBALL 7 46 557% TRACK 22 107 386% LACROSSE 13 49 277% SOCCER 184 465 277% BASKETBALL 32 100 213% GOLF 48 122 154% SWIMMING 30 72 140% Division II Women s Sports 2010 2017 % change SWIMMING 16 67 319% TRACK 24 74 208% BASKETBALL 20 47 135% TENNIS 80 185 131% GOLF 31 64 106% SOFTBALL 76 144 89% CROSS COUNTRY 25 43 72% BASEBALL 19 32 68% TENNIS 128 188 47% CROSS COUNTRY 38 54 42% Note: Sports with >30 first-year international DII student-athletes in 2017. Data shown are for first-year student-athletes (2009-10 and 2016-17).
Change in the Percentage of International Student-Athletes in Division II from 2010 to 2017 Division II Men s Sports 2010 2017 % diff. Tennis 33% 49% 16% Soccer 13% 26% 13% Golf 8% 20% 12% Swimming 8% 16% 8% Volleyball 2% 7% 5% Basketball 3% 8% 5% Track 1% 5% 3% Lacrosse 3% 6% 3% Cross Country 4% 5% 1% Football 0% 1% 1% Wrestling 0% 1% 1% Baseball 1% 1% 0% Fencing 0% 0% 0% Water Polo 5% 4% -1% Ice Hockey 10% 7% -3% Division II Women s Sports 2010 2017 % diff. Tennis 15% 35% 20% Swimming 3% 11% 7% Golf 9% 15% 5% Field Hockey 3% 8% 5% Rowing 1% 5% 4% Water Polo 0% 4% 4% Basketball 2% 4% 2% Soccer 5% 6% 2% Track 2% 3% 2% Cross Country 2% 4% 2% Lacrosse 1% 2% 1% Bowling 0% 1% 1% Softball 1% 1% 0% Volleyball 2% 2% -1% Note: Graphic is limited to those sports with >200 Division II student-athletes. Data shown are for first-year student-athletes (2009-10 and 2016-17).
Trends by Sport
Trends in Percentage of International Men s Basketball Student-Athletes Division I 15.5% 13.7% 13.0% 11.4% 11.8% 9.8% Division II 8.0% 6.5% 6.9% 7.0% 7.8% 7.5% 7.9% 5.5% 4.6% 3.2% 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 66 159 DII 32 100 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Women s Basketball Student-Athletes 12.2% Division I 11.0% 5.6% 4.8% 6.2% 6.3% 7.8% 8.3% Division II 1.8% 2.2% 2.2% 2.4% 3.3% 2.6% 3.0% 3.9% 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes. Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 67 135 DII 20 47
Trends in Percentage of International Men s Golf Student-Athletes 13.5% 8.2% 17.2% 17.4% 17.8% 12.8% 13.7% 10.5% 22.5% 16.4% 20.4% 22.3% 18.8% 18.6% Division I 20.6% 20.2% Division II 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 77 121 DII 48 122 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Women s Golf Student-Athletes 29.4% 28.3% 31.5% 31.2% 20.3% 21.6% 23.5% 23.8% Division I Division II 16.5% 15.0% 14.7% 9.4% 9.6% 10.4% 11.7% 6.4% 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 95 151 DII 31 64 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Men s Soccer Student-Athletes 34.1% 15.9% 18.8% 16.3% 21.4% 18.3% 22.4% 20.4% 24.4% 22.9% 26.4% 28.0% 24.4% 23.8% Division I 25.9% Division II 12.8% 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 149 312 DII 184 465 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Women s Soccer Student-Athletes Division I 6.9% 8.9% 8.0% 8.5% 7.9% 9.7% 9.2% 10.3% 4.6% 3.9% 6.2% 6.5% 5.9% 5.8% 6.3% 6.4% Division II 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 130 221 DII 76 144 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Men s Swimming & Diving Student-Athletes 8.4% 7.9% 10.6% 7.4% 11.9% 10.6% 14.4% 13.0% 14.6% 11.0% 19.1% 13.2% 16.9% 9.0% Division II 15.9% 14.3% Division I 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 51 96 DII 30 72 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Women s Swimming & Diving Student-Athletes Division I 12.7% 10.5% 11.2% 12.0% 12.7% 11.4% 9.1% 8.0% 10.1% 10.9% 10.7% 6.3% 6.4% 8.3% 7.1% Division II 3.4% 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 84 151 DII 16 67 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Men s Tennis Student-Athletes 47.3% 33.4% 49.0% 53.1% 35.3% 36.7% 54.7% 45.2% 52.8% 50.9% 54.4% 47.8% 57.2% 52.0% 61.6% Division I 49.2% Division II 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 230 309 DII 128 188 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Women s Tennis Student-Athletes 46.5% 46.9% 46.8% 51.8% 51.5% 53.6% 55.7% 59.0% Division I 21.1% 21.1% 24.9% 30.4% 31.3% 30.1% 35.3% Division II 15.3% 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 268 376 DII 80 185 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Men s Track & Field Student-Athletes Division I 6.2% 6.5% 7.1% 8.0% 8.6% 7.4% 9.4% 9.9% Division II 1.3% 2.1% 2.9% 3.3% 4.2% 4.1% 4.7% 3.5% 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 87 156 DII 22 107 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Trends in Percentage of International Women s Track & Field Student-Athletes Division I 6.2% 5.6% 6.1% 7.3% 6.4% 7.3% 8.9% 9.6% Division II 1.5% 1.8% 2.9% 2.7% 2.9% 3.2% 3.5% 3.3% 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Numbers 2009-10 2016-17 DI 133 229 DII 24 74 Note: Data shown are for first-year student-athletes.
Detailed Methodology Prospective student-athletes (PSAs) who wish to compete in Division I or Division II must register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. All PSAs are assigned a unique NCAA ID number in the process. Country is captured during registration when PSAs enter their home address. Previous country is input for PSAs submitting high school transcripts from an additional country. NCAA research determined country of origin using the country listed in all cases except for PSAs listing an U.S. address who also listed a non-u.s. previous country. In those cases, country of origin was set to the previous country. For example, the country of origin for a PSA residing in the U.S. during senior year of high school who was previously enrolled at a high school in Argentina is Argentina. Matching on NCAA ID, we merged country of origin with Division I and Division II academic cohort data, which allowed us to determine country of origin for student-athletes in each sport s cohort. Country of origin for Division III student-athletes was not included because Division III student-athletes are not required to register with the Eligibility Center. For this population, the only source of international participation in Division III is the NCAA Demographic Database. The number and percentage of international student-athletes within the academic data is higher than captured in the NCAA Demographics Database. This may be because of the cohort restrictions (e.g. Division I academic cohorts are typically limited to student-athletes on scholarship) or because international student-athletes race/ethnicity is input for them by someone who may assign another racial category (e.g. Asian, Black, White) rather than selecting Nonresident Alien, which is included as one of the race/ethnicity options within the NCAA Demographics Database.