Best Colleges for Soccer – Men’s and Women’s (2025)
April 7, 2025
Last year, I wrote an article for College Transitions on the highest-paid soccer players in the world. In it, I proclaimed that mainstream America was “tepid” on soccer. And while it’s true that soccer’s popularity amongst Americans is dwarfed by pro football, baseball, and basketball, the sport is definitely on the rise. A report released in 2024 revealed that the number of new soccer fans grew 57% from the year prior. A big part of that growth undoubtedly has to do with Inter Miami’s signing of megastar Lionel Messi. That, and the fact that the United States will be the primary host of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But it’s not just pro and international soccer that are booming. College soccer has also experienced a surge in popularity in the last decade.
As a result, US colleges have increasingly recruited international talent for their soccer teams, and playing soccer at the college level is seen more and more as a pathway to the professional leagues. So what are the best colleges for soccer in the US? Check out the list below.
What are the Best Colleges for Soccer?
The best colleges for soccer will depend on whether you are a male or female athlete. Use the links below to jump to your preferred category:
Best Colleges for Women’s Soccer
10) Duke University
The Blue Devils women’s soccer squad has never won a national title, but that doesn’t mean they’re not amongst the most elite soccer programs in the country. They finished the 2024 season as the third highest-ranked team according to the United Soccer Coaches’ poll, and they consistently make deep runs in the NCAA tournament.
9) Wake Forest University
Like the Blue Devils, the women’s Demon Deacons have never won a national title. But they’re still one of the best teams in the country, having finished the 2024 season as the second highest-ranked team in women’s soccer.
8) USC
The NCAA Division I Women’s Championship came into being in 1982, and in that time the USC women’s team has won two national championships—the first in 2007, the second in 2016. The women’s Trojans are currently ranked fifth on the United Soccer Coaches’ poll.
7) University of Portland
The University of Portland is one of the best colleges for soccer in the country. Although they’re not currently ranked within the top 25, the women’s Pilots are two-time national champs (2002, 2005).
6) Santa Clara University
The US women’s national soccer team is the most decorated women’s soccer team in the history of the sport, and one of the most dominant soccer teams of all time. They’ve won five Olympic gold medals and four Women’s World Cup titles. Only Brazil’s men’s team has won more World Cup titles, and no other team—men’s or women’s—has taken home more gold.
One of the things that makes Santa Clara one of the best colleges for soccer in the country is its ability to produce high-caliber talent. And the school’s got one of the best of all time among its alumni. Brandi Chastain, before she went on to become a two-time World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was a Santa Clara Bronco. The women’s Broncos have twice been national champions, in 2001 and 2020, and they’re currently ranked 20th according to the United Soccer Coaches’ poll.
5) UCLA
The UCLA women’s Bruins are one of the most consistently elite teams in the sport. They’re two-time national champs (2013, 2022), they’ve finished national runner-up four times, and they’ve made the semifinals of the national tournament a remarkable 12 times since the year 2000. The women’s Bruins are currently ranked 18th on the United Soccer Coaches’ poll.
4) University of Notre Dame
The Notre Dame women’s soccer squad is one of the best in the sport. They finished the 2024 season at the 6th spot in the United Soccer Coaches’ poll, and they’re a consistent contender for the national title. The women’s Fighting Irish are three-time national champs, and they’ve finished runner-up another five times.
3) Stanford University
Both the men’s and women’s Cardinal have dominated the landscape of college soccer over the last decade plus. The women’s Cardinal have amassed three national titles, winning the championship in 2011, 2017, and 2019. They finished runner-up in 2009, 2010, and 2013, and they’re currently the 4th best team in the country according to the United Soccer Coaches’ poll. At the moment, there are 29 former women’s Cardinals playing in pro leagues around the world.
2) Florida State University
Women’s soccer became a varsity sport at Florida State in 1998, and it didn’t take long for the Seminoles to become one of the top teams in the nation. The women’s Seminoles have only failed to qualify for the NCAA Division I championship twice—in the first two years of their existence. They’ve made the quarterfinals an incredible 18 times in their history, and with four national championships, only one team in women’s soccer is more decorated than the Seminoles.
1) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Far and away the best soccer team in the country is the UNC women’s Tar Heels. They’ve never failed to qualify for the NCAA Division I tournament. They’ve won the national championship a total of 22 times, making them one of the most dominant college teams ever—across all men’s and women’s sports. The list of Tar Heels products who’ve gone on to play professionally and internationally is too long to catalog here, but highlights include all-time greats Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly.
Best Colleges for Men’s Soccer
15) Ohio State University
The men’s soccer program at Ohio State has an overall win percentage of .473, but this past season they shot to national prominence with a run all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA national tournament. The Buckeyes finished the 2024 season as the 3rd highest-ranked team according to the United Soccer Coaches’ poll.
14) Wake Forest University
The Wake Forest men’s soccer team won a national title in 2007, and they’re consistently amongst the best teams in the sport. They finished the 2024 season ranked 6th in the United Soccer Coaches’ poll.
13) University of Connecticut
The men’s Huskies have won two national championships in their history, in 1981 and 2000. They’re not currently ranked within the top 25, and they last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2018.
12) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The men’s Tar Heels have won two national titles (2001, 2011) since they were founded in 1947. They finished the 2024 season ranked just outside the top 25.
11) Georgetown University
The Hoyas took out powerhouse Virginia to win the national title in 2019, and they’ve hardly fallen into obscurity since then. In 2021, they made it to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Washington 2-1. The Georgetown men finished the 2024 season with a record of 11-5-5.
10) University of San Francisco
With four national titles—in 1966, 1975, 1976, and 1980—San Francisco is one of the most decorated programs in the history of college soccer. The school’s rich soccer history earns them a spot on the list of the best colleges for soccer, but they haven’t won a national title since 1980, and they’re not currently ranked in the top 25 on the United Soccer Coaches’ poll.
9) Marshall University
Within the last five years, Marshall has established itself as one of the best colleges for soccer in the country. In 2020, Marshall won the men’s national championship, the first national title in team history. Just two years before, they finished the year with a losing record. In fact, they finished every year from 2013 to 2018 with a losing record. But the Thundering Herd turned it around under head coach Chris Grassie, and they haven’t looked back since. They were national runners-up in 2024 and finished the year second in the overall standings.
8) University of Vermont
The University of Vermont is one of the best colleges for soccer in the country. The men’s Catamounts finished the 2024 season as the top-ranked team in the country according to the United Soccer Coaches’ poll. They beat Marshall 2-1 in the 2024 NCAA Division I championship game, their first national title in team history. Two players from the 2024 championship team, Sydney Wathuta and Max Murray, were drafted in the MLS SuperDraft; as the 16th and 17th picks, Wathuta and Murray became the highest-drafted Catamounts in program history. They join the seven other former Catamounts who have gone on to play professionally.
7) Clemson University
The NCAA Division I men’s tournament began in 1959, when St. Louis defeated Bridgeport in the first-ever championship game. By 1973, Clemson had established itself as one of the best colleges for soccer in the country. That year, they finished 4th place in the national tournament. In 1976, they repeated their 4th place finish; in 1978, they finished in 3rd place, and the next year they made it all the way to the championship round, where they lost to SIU Edwardsville. Then, in 1984, the Tigers broke through and won their first-ever national championship. They became national champions again in 1987.
And in the past decade, Clemson has been one of the most dominant teams in college soccer. In 2015 they finished runners-up to a Stanford team on an unbeatable streak, and in 2021 and 2023 they returned to championship form. With four national titles in their history, Clemson’s soccer team is one of the most decorated of all time.
6) University of Maryland
Teams earn their reputations in a myriad of ways: recent dominance, sustained success, a track record of cultivating elite talent. For the University of Maryland, it’s a combination of all three that makes it one of the best colleges for soccer of all time.
The Terrapins men’s soccer team has won a total of 4 national titles. Their first came in 1968, and their last came as recently as 2018. Maryland also has a proven history of producing top-level professional talent. There are 17 former Terrapins currently playing in professional leagues around the world, and the list of Terrapins alum that represented their country at the national level is even longer.
5) Stanford University
The Stanford men’s soccer program has been a force on the national stage since 1973, but it’s within the last thirty years that the Cardinals have established themselves as one of the best colleges for soccer of all time. Between 1997 and 2019, a 23-season period, the Cardinal made the NCAA Division I men’s tournament 14 times. The Cardinal won back-to-back-to-back national championships in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and they went on a deep run in the 2019 tournament as well, finishing 3rd overall. The men’s Cardinal finished the 2024 season as the 13th-ranked team according to the United Soccer Coaches’ poll.
4) UCLA
The men’s Bruins have amassed four national titles in their history, making them one of the best colleges for soccer of all time. They won their first championship in 1985 and their most recent in 2002. Even though it’s been more than two decades since they last won it all, the Bruins are still very much relevant on the national scene. In 2014, they made it all the way to the national championship, where they lost to Virginia in a penalty shootout.
3) University of Virginia
The University of Virginia certainly has a claim to being the best soccer college of all time. The men’s Cavaliers have won seven national titles, including four in a row between 1991 and 1994. Their most recent championship came in 2014, and they finished runners-up in 2019.
Numerous Cavaliers have played, or a currently playing, at a professional level. Daryl Dike, currently playing in the EFL Championship league, and Alex Rando, currently playing for New York City FC in the MLS, are two recent ex-Cavs who’ve found success in the pros.
2) Saint Louis University
With 9 national titles, the Saint Louis Billikens men’s soccer team has won more NCAA championships than any other team in the sport. They dominated the early era of the tournament, winning the first-ever national championship in 1959, and going on to win in 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1972, and 1973.
1) Indiana University
The Hoosiers men’s soccer program has won a total of 8 national titles, the most recent of which came in 2012. That’s not to say, though, that they’ve been irrelevant over the last decade or so. In 2017, 2020, and 2022, the Hoosiers finished runners-up in the NCAA Division I tournament. In 2022, they were barely bested by Syracuse in a classic championship game that ended in a 7-6 penalty shootout.
Additional Resources
