92,015
freshmen are on 12,046 current college rosters, 30.1% of all players. D1 rosters are 26.3% freshmen, the NAIA 34.4%.
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Major directoryYour major and your sport in one list Camp directoryID camps and showcases at college programs Conference directoryEvery conference and its member collegesWe counted every freshman on the current rosters of 12,046 college programs, by division, sport and position. The result is a plain answer to one of the most common recruiting questions: how many players does a college team actually bring in each year?
Published October 2026 · Roster data from official athletics websites · Free to cite with a link
The short version. Every figure is calculated from current college rosters and explained in full further down the page.
freshmen are on 12,046 current college rosters, 30.1% of all players. D1 rosters are 26.3% freshmen, the NAIA 34.4%.
freshmen for every 100 players in their final season, at D1 and at D3. D1 programs replace about one departing player per freshman and fill the rest with transfers.
freshmen on the average college football roster, the biggest class in any sport. It ranges from 31.7 per program at D1 to 58.9 in the NAIA.
freshmen on the typical D1 tennis or golf roster, and 3 to 4 in D1 basketball. In small-roster sports, each spot in a class is one of very few.
of women's soccer programs have no freshman goalkeeper this year, and 29% of volleyball programs have no freshman setter. Specialists compete for one spot, or none.
D1 programs carry 6.7 freshmen on average. D2 and D3 carry about 8, and the NAIA 9.1. Rosters are about the same size at every level, so the difference is how much of each roster is new each year.
Freshmen include redshirt freshmen, as listed on the roster. Per 100 leaving compares freshmen with players listed as seniors or graduate students. No freshmen is the share of programs with no freshman on the current roster.
For every 100 players in their final season, D1 programs carry 105 freshmen. D3 programs carry 166. D1 rosters lean on transfers to fill the rest, while D2, D3 and NAIA rosters are built mostly from high school recruits.
A number above 100 means a level brings in more freshmen than it loses to graduation, which leaves room for players who leave early or transfer.
Power 4 football rosters list 30.5 freshmen per team, down from 46.0 two seasons ago.
Division I roster limits arrived in 2025-26, and the biggest programs answered with smaller freshman classes. Our roster size study tracks the change by sport and level.
Read the roster size studyFootball programs carry 41.0 freshmen on average and golf programs about 2. The share of the roster that is new each year is much more even, between about a fifth and a third in most sports. Big rosters simply mean big classes.
Average freshmen on each program's 2026-27 roster, including redshirt freshmen. Of roster is freshmen as a share of all rostered players at all levels. n/a means fewer than 10 programs at that level. Sports with at least 40 programs in the data. Spring sports use the 2026-27 rosters already posted, so they cover fewer programs.
Freshmen make up about the same share of every position, close to 30% in soccer and volleyball. What changes is the count. A soccer program takes about three freshman midfielders and one goalkeeper, and about a third of programs take no goalkeeper at all.
32% of programs have no freshman goalkeeper.
26% of programs have no freshman goalkeeper.
55% of programs have no freshman opposite.
28% of programs have no freshman forward.
28% of programs have no freshman goalkeeper.
29% of programs have no freshman goalie.
Average freshmen at each position, among programs that list that position. Players are grouped by the first position listed on the roster.
Football carries the biggest classes at every position. It is also where redshirting is most common: 17.5% of D1 football freshmen are listed as redshirt freshmen, against 0.2% of D3 freshmen across all sports, where redshirting is rare.
Every position carries at least two freshmen on the average roster, and 16% of programs have no freshman specialist (kicker, punter or long snapper).
A redshirt freshman is in their second year on campus. They are counted with freshmen on this page because rosters list them that way.
Four rules that come straight out of the data.
A D1 tennis or golf program takes about 2 freshmen a year, a D1 soccer program about 8. The smaller the class, the earlier it fills and the longer your list needs to be.
About a third of soccer programs take no freshman goalkeeper this year, and 29% of volleyball programs take no freshman setter. Specialists should ask each coach how many they plan to sign.
They carry 8 to 9 freshmen per program against 6.7 at D1, and they bring in about 1.5 to 1.7 freshmen for every senior who leaves. More of their spots go to high school recruits.
D1 programs carry only about one freshman per departing player and fill the rest from the transfer portal. Check how many transfers a program added last year before you count on a spot.
See where roster spots are opening this year, how many go to transfers, and how roster limits changed the top level.
Pathley turns this data into a read built around one athlete. Delivered within 24 hours, one payment, and an expert checks every plan.
See the roster at your position, by class year, for 3, 8 or 15 schools you choose.
See the Roster ReportYour 20 to 25 best-fit schools across every division, with fit reads, real costs and a dated timeline.
See the Recruiting PlanOne program covered end to end: fit, roster at your position, the coach to email and the outreach.
See the Target School PlanEverything on this page comes from public roster data, collected and cleaned the same way for every program.
Pathley. College Freshman Class Study, 2026-27 season. Published October 2026. https://www.pathley.ai/college-freshman-class-study
Journalists, coaches and counselors are welcome to use any figure on this page with a link back to this study. For a cut of the data by sport, conference or program, email contact@pathley.ai.
The average college program carries 7.6 freshmen on its 2026-27 roster. It depends on the sport and level: about 41 in football, about 8 in soccer, 4 to 5 in basketball and 2 to 3 in tennis and golf. D1 programs carry 6.7 on average, D3 programs 8.1 and NAIA programs 9.1.
D1 women's soccer programs carry 7.5 freshmen on average and D1 men's soccer programs 7.8. A typical program takes one freshman goalkeeper or none, and about a third of programs take none.
D1 men's basketball programs carry 3.9 freshmen on average, and D1 women's programs 3.4. D1 teams also add many transfers: in men's basketball, more transfers than freshmen joined D1 rosters this year.
Yes. D3 programs carry 8.1 freshmen on average against 6.7 at D1, and 166 freshmen for every 100 players in their final season against 105 at D1.
From the 2026-27 rosters published on each program's official athletics website, collected by Pathley in October 2026. Freshmen include redshirt freshmen as listed on the roster.
Updated October 2026 with 2026-27 rosters. Pathley refreshes college rosters every year.