Pathley Research

College recruiting, measured from real rosters.

Pathley reads the current roster of nearly every college program in the country. These studies turn that data into plain answers for families and coaches: where roster spots open, where athletes come from, and how many spots go to transfers.

3 studies 11,964 programs 303,441 athletes D1 to NAIA Updated every season
Latest study New
College Transfer Study, 2026-27
10.2%
of D1 rosters are new four-year transfers, 11,486 players in all
Read the study Published October 2026
All studies

The studies

Each study covers the 2026-27 season, from D1 through the NAIA, with figures by division, sport, state and position. Every number is free to cite with a link.

3 studies
No studies on this topic yet. New studies are added through the season.
How we build it

One dataset, read the same way every time

Every study starts from the same place: the rosters colleges publish on their own athletics websites.

1

Official rosters

We collect the current roster for about 22,000 college teams across NCAA D1, D2, D3 and the NAIA, straight from each program's athletics site.

2

Cleaned and matched

Coaches, staff and duplicates come out. Class years, positions, hometowns and previous schools are standardized so programs can be compared.

3

Limits stated plainly

Each study says which programs it covers, what it leaves out and why, so you know how far each figure can be pushed.

4

Refreshed every season

Rosters change every year. We rerun the studies on the new rosters each season and note the date on every page.

Press and research use

Free to cite, with a link

Journalists, coaches, counselors and researchers are welcome to use any figure from these studies.

How to cite

Credit Pathley and link to the study

Name the study and link to its page. Each study has a ready-made citation in its methodology section with a copy button.

Pathley. College Roster Turnover Study, 2026-27 season. Published October 2026. https://www.pathley.ai/college-roster-turnover-study

The data is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Need a custom cut?

Ask for the numbers behind a story

  • Figures for one sport, conference, state or division
  • Program-level counts for a story about a single school
  • Questions about how a figure was counted
Email contact@pathley.ai
Put it to work

See what the data says about your own list

The studies show the whole market. A Recruiting Plan reads the rosters at the schools that fit you, and an expert checks every plan before it reaches you.

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