College Athletic Scholarships and Roster Limits in 2026: What Changed After the House Settlement

The short answer: athletic scholarships in 2026-27

Since July 1, 2025, Division I schools in the House settlement have had no scholarship limits. Each sport has a roster limit instead, 34 in baseball, 25 in softball and 105 in football, and every athlete on the roster can receive a full or partial scholarship. The College Sports Commission counted 319 participating schools in 2025-26.

Division II, the NAIA and junior colleges still work the old way: each sport has a fixed number of scholarships that coaches divide among players, so most athletes there receive partial scholarships. Division III offers no athletic scholarships at all, although most Division III athletes receive other aid.

For recruits, the biggest change is that a roster spot at a Division I school in the settlement is now the scarce thing. Walk-on spots are tighter, and the first question to ask a coach is whether you are on next year's roster, not only how much money comes with it.

What the House settlement changed

Two protections matter for families. Athletes who were on aid before 2025-26 cannot lose that aid because of roster limits, even if they lose their roster spot. And during the term of a Division I award, aid cannot be reduced or canceled for athletic ability, performance, injury or illness. Renewal or nonrenewal notice is due by July 1.

Division I schools that did not opt in have no national roster limits. They fall under the settlement if they give more aid in a sport than that sport's 2024-25 scholarship limit, so the old numbers in the table below are still their practical ceiling.

• Approved June 6, 2025 by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, effective July 1, 2025, for a 10-year term.
• At participating schools, roster limits replaced sport-by-sport scholarship limits. Aid can be any amount up to a full scholarship, and anyone receiving athletics aid must be on that sport's roster.
• Participating schools can pay athletes directly through revenue sharing, capped at $20.5 million per school in 2025-26 and about $21.58 million in 2026-27. The cap is 22% of the average Power Four and Pac-12 revenue from media rights, tickets and sponsorships, and it is set to rise another 4% in 2027-28.
• In the first year, the College Sports Commission tracked nearly $2 billion in payments to 34,915 athletes at 307 schools, $1.77 billion of it revenue sharing.
• Every school in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC takes part automatically. Other Division I schools decide each year.
• The College Sports Commission enforces roster limits, the revenue-sharing cap and third-party NIL rules. The NCAA still enforces everything else.

Division I roster limits by sport

Roster limits at schools in the House settlement, from Bylaw 17.2 of the 2026-27 Division I Manual, next to the 2024-25 scholarship limits they replaced. Under the old rules, the cross country limits applied to schools without track, and the track numbers covered both sports.

Rosters are due the day before a team's first contest that counts toward championship selection, or December 1, whichever comes first. Before that deadline there is no national limit, so fall camps and tryouts can carry more players. After it, only athletes on the submitted roster can take part in any athletic activity, including voluntary workouts, and a team can add someone only if it is under its limit.

Designated student-athletes are the exception. They are athletes a school says were, or would have been, cut from its 2025-26 roster because of the new limits, and who were on the roster or promised a spot before April 7, 2025. They do not count toward the limit for the rest of their eligibility, even after transferring to another participating school. Schools filed those lists in July 2025 and cannot add to them, and most designated athletes are former walk-ons.

Division II scholarship limits by sport

Every Division II sport is an equivalency sport: coaches divide a fixed number of full scholarships among players. Limits from Bylaw 15.4.2.1 of the 2026-27 Division II Manual.

Each player's athletics aid for tuition, fees, food and housing is divided by the value of a full scholarship at that school, and the fractions on a team cannot exceed the limit. Only athletes receiving athletics aid count. Schools are also held to 60 total equivalencies across men's sports other than football and basketball; a proposal to remove that cap from August 2027 is pending.

NAIA scholarship limits by sport

NAIA limits are full-scholarship equivalencies from Policy XIII of the 2026-27 NAIA handbook, unchanged from 2025-26. The handbook lists one limit per sport.

Good grades stretch an NAIA coach's budget. Academic aid for strong students partly or fully stops counting against the team limit: for entering freshmen, a 3.50 to 3.74 high school GPA, a 1140 SAT or 23 ACT, or a top 11 to 25% class rank earns a half exemption, and a 3.75 GPA or higher, a 1280 SAT or 27 ACT, or a top 10% rank earns a full one. The NAIA has no limit on roster size, and the most an athlete can receive is tuition, mandatory fees, required books and supplies, and room and board.

NJCAA junior college scholarship limits

NJCAA limits from the 2026-27 Sports Procedures Chart, which lists the same numbers for each NJCAA division, separately for men and women. Division III colleges offer no athletic scholarships. Every Letter of Intent signee counts, whatever the amount of aid.

What a scholarship can cover depends on the NJCAA division, which is set by sport rather than by school. Division I can pay tuition and course fees, room and board, course-related books, up to $250 in required supplies, and one round trip home each year. Division II can pay tuition, course-related fees, books and up to $250 in supplies. Division III offers no athletic scholarships. A Letter of Intent covers one academic year, and renewal or nonrenewal notice is due by June 15.

Head count vs. equivalency: does it still matter?

In an equivalency sport, the team has a fixed number of full scholarships that coaches split, so a roster full of partial scholarships is normal. In a head-count sport, the limit is on the number of athletes receiving aid, which in practice usually meant full scholarships. Before the settlement, Division I football (FBS), men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball, tennis and gymnastics were head-count sports.

That distinction still describes Division II, where every sport is an equivalency sport, and the NAIA, which uses equivalencies. The NJCAA counts every signee. At Division I schools in the settlement it no longer applies: there is only a roster limit, and any rostered athlete can receive any amount up to a full scholarship. Many pages, including the NCAA's own consumer page, still describe the old Division I system, so check the date on anything you read.

Division III: no athletic scholarships, plenty of aid

Division III schools cannot award aid based on athletic ability, participation or performance. An athlete's aid package must follow the same policy used for every student, athletics staff cannot arrange or change it, and schools report to the NCAA each year comparing athletes' packages with everyone else's.

Aid is still the norm. The NCAA reports that 80% of Division III athletes receive non-athletics aid, such as academic scholarships, need-based grants and work-study, and Pell Grants are available at every NCAA school. For a strong student, a Division III package can cost less than a partial athletic scholarship elsewhere, so compare net cost, not the label.

Walk-ons after the settlement

At Division I schools in the settlement, walk-ons count against the roster limit exactly like scholarship athletes. After the roster deadline, anyone taking part in team activities, voluntary workouts included, must be on the roster, and someone who tries out later needs an open spot. The old 35-player baseball squad limit and 110-player football practice limit are gone, replaced by the roster limits.

The upside is that any rostered athlete, walk-ons included, can now receive a scholarship. The downside is fewer spots: ESPN reported that Division I football rosters averaged more than 146 players in 2024-25 against the new 105 limit, and the AP reported in August 2026 that walk-on numbers are falling, though walk-ons are unlikely to disappear.

Treat a preferred walk-on offer as a coach's commitment, not an NCAA guarantee, and ask where you stand against the roster limit. Division I schools that did not opt into the settlement, and NAIA schools, have no national roster limits.

Your odds of playing in college, by sport

The NCAA's estimates from 2024-25 participation data: the share of high school athletes who go on to play at an NCAA school. They exclude the NAIA and junior colleges, so total college opportunities are higher.

Note: the NCAA lists 2.7% for Division II women's track and field, but its three division figures then add up to 7.5% against a 6.5% total, so we have left that cell out. The NCAA also notes that club-only athletes are not counted, so real odds can be lower in club-heavy sports.

Questions to ask a coach about a scholarship in 2026

• Am I counted on next year's roster, or am I competing for a spot until the roster deadline?
• Is the offer a full or partial scholarship, and exactly what does it cover?
• Is it a one-year or multi-year award, and what are the renewal terms?
• Does your school take part in the House settlement? If not, how close is my sport to its 2024-25 limit?
• Is any revenue-share or NIL money part of the offer, and will I get it in writing? Schools can put an NIL or revenue-share offer in writing from August 1 of senior year, but it cannot be signed before the signing dates.
• What happens to my aid if the head coach leaves?
• How does the five-year eligibility clock affect how long players stay on your roster?