Navigating NCAA Lacrosse Scholarships: A Comprehensive Guide

Securing a men’s lacrosse scholarship requires a strategic approach and a thorough understanding of the recruiting landscape. This guide provides essential information on men's lacrosse scholarships, including availability, eligibility, and strategies to enhance your chances of receiving one.

Understanding the Scholarship Landscape

With approximately 15,200 men’s college lacrosse players across 440 programs, the competition for scholarships is fierce. In the NCAA divisions that offer athletic scholarships, nearly 5,800 players vie for limited opportunities. It is important to note that the numbers above are not directly indicative of how many scholarships are available each year. These numbers represent the maximum scholarships allowed per program at each division level, but the reality is that many programs are not fully funded and don’t offer the maximum number of scholarships. Every college is different in terms of funding and how a college program uses scholarship money.

NCAA Division I

Starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, the NCAA eliminated most D1 scholarship limits, enabling all sports to distribute scholarships more flexibly among athletes. This change is expected to have a significant impact on college lacrosse recruiting.

NCAA D1 men’s lacrosse teams could offer up to 48 scholarships, up from 12.6. Coaches can use these scholarships as full or partial awards. However, not every team will use all 48 scholarships, so some players may still need to pay for part of their college costs.

NCAA Division II

NCAA DII lacrosse operates as an equivalency sport, with a maximum of 10.8 scholarships per team. Partial scholarships can cover tuition, room and board, books, etc.

NCAA Division III

Notably, DIII schools don’t offer athletic scholarships. However, academic-related grants can be used in lieu of athletic scholarships. In some cases, D3 schools are able to offer better aid packages than D1 and D2 schools.

NAIA and Junior Colleges

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) can give student-athletes a more well-rounded college experience than even DIII schools. NAIA schools have available other financial aid opportunities outside of athletic scholarships.

Student-athletes have the opportunity to receive a full scholarship at a junior college. The NJCAA offers 16 men’s lacrosse programs a maximum of 24 full-ride scholarships per team. Coaches are free to divide up the 20 scholarships however they like, which means partial scholarships can be given to athletes.

The Equivalency Sport Model

Lacrosse is categorized as an equivalency sport. This means that each program receives a set amount of scholarship money, which coaches can distribute among recruits and current players. Because lacrosse is an equivalency sport, college coaches are free to divide the pool of scholarship money in the way that best suits their needs each year. The NCAA D1 Council now lets student-athletes get need-based aid and academic scholarships without them counting against athletic scholarship limits in equivalency sports like lacrosse.

Coaches are free to divide up the 20 scholarships however they like, which means partial scholarships can be given to athletes. Coaches can use these scholarships as full or partial awards.

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

Strategies to Enhance Your Scholarship Prospects

Academic Excellence

Maintain good grades: The best way to get a scholarship is maintaining a good GPA and high academic standing in high school. The majority of NCAA lacrosse programs are offered at schools with high academic standards. Recruiters will be looking at both. Make sure you’re taking classes as required by the NCAA Eligibility Center, as well as the ACTs and SATs. And if you do land a spot on a college lacrosse team, you’re going to be expected to keep up your academic performance along with your athletic performance, so you might as well get used to doing it now.

Proactive Engagement

Don’t waste time pursuing programs that aren’t a good match. If you are committed to a particular college, work early to develop a relationship with the coaching staff at the school. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the school and invite them to games and practices. Coaching staffs are inundated with request to make scouting visits so making an early request is key. Send coaches your team schedule and highlight any tournaments worth noting.

Make visits. You may have talent and self-discipline, but unless you get your name out there in a consistent and respectful way, you may also fly under your preferred program’s radar. Show those coaches and scouts how much you want to compete for them in their lacrosse program. Narrow down the schools you’d like to attend and compete for. Then, take responsibility for introducing yourself to your sport’s decision-makers at these schools.

Skill Development and Exposure

As early as 8th or 9th grade, they begin helping students increase their chances of competing in college sports by educating them on the recruiting process and taking the required steps to improve their visibility and reputation among college Men's Lacrosse coaches and scouts. To be recruited for college level lacrosse, students need to be playing on a competitive club team. You will also need great grades to round out your recruiting package.

It’s not too early to begin presenting a video of gameplay to recruits. Some athletes begin as early as freshman year sending their packages to colleges. It’s not enough to simply attend a summer lacrosse camp or showcase to be recruited. Colleges need more information about your gameplay and your style than one game can expose. Club lacrosse provides student-athletes the visibility and access to college coaches that high school lacrosse simply does not. This is especially important for student-athletes who live outside of the Northeast, where most DI college lacrosse programs are. Club opportunities allow athletes to showcase their skills while competing against top talent in front of college coaches at their prospective schools.

Tournaments and club play are opportunities to test your skills against top talent and compete in front of college coaches. If you’re an upperclassman who isn’t being actively recruited, rework your target list. Consider new opportunities, including lower-division programs where you might be more competitive.

Understanding Your Player Tier

To compete at DI for a top program, defensemen must have more than just great on-ball skills, physical presence and technical skill. To be a Tier 1 defense player, athletes must take control of the game, the competition’s top offensive players and the defenders around them. Top programs are looking for tough attackers who can perform on the biggest stages. At this tier, athletes have a high lacrosse IQ, great change of direction and vision, can take over a game at any point and handle the ball with confidence in high pressure situations. Tier 1 midfielders possess the skills and experience needed to play at top DI lacrosse programs. These athletes are dominating on the field with great vision and exceptional defensive skills.

Tier 2 defensemen are still at the top of the talent pool, but their skills and experience are better suited for a lower-end DI program. Athletes at this level play a steady mix of ground-ball play and one-on-one defense. They’re not always the top defensive player but show flashes of taking on that role and couple that with great athletic ability. Tier 2 attackers demonstrate the skills coaches are looking for at lower-end DI schools. Tier 2 attackers are competitive and reliable but less flashy than Tier 1 athletes. Only slightly less skilled and experienced than Tier 1 midfielders, Tier 2 middies are great athletes who move the ball and consistently contribute on the score sheet.

Top ranked DII and DIII programs look for athletes who just missed making a DI team. Athletes at top DII and DIII programs align best with the skills and experience of Tier 3 midfielders. Good athletes with a grasp of their role on the field, Tier 3 middies find ways to be difference makers, dodgers and feeders. At Tier 3, attackers can create offense and consistently find teammates for scoring chances. Tier 3 defensemen are solid contributors who can handle the ball and cover strong offensive threats.

Athletes at Tier 4 compete at lower DII and DIII schools. They demonstrate good athleticism and quickness. Less skilled than defensemen in the top three tiers, athletes with the skills and experience that match the Tier 4 level can compete at lower end DII and DIII schools. These are good, not great, athletes who steadily contribute in concepts and defense. Tier 4 athletes generally fit best with lower-end DII and DIII programs that recruit talented athletes with room for improvement. Midfielders at this level are less versatile and tend to find a niche they’re truly good at. They’re strong contributors on offense, and serve as a threat in transition.

Openness and Alternatives

Be open-minded: Division 1 scholarships are highly sought after, yet very few are available. If cost is a big factor in selecting a school, student-athletes shouldn’t overlook programs like the NAIA. Athletic scholarships aren’t the only form of aid available to student-athletes.

NCSA Resources

Welcome to the NCSA Men's Lacrosse athletic scholarships portal - a helpful portal for high school student athletes across the country. NCSA offers Power Rankings of the country’s best colleges with men’s lacrosse programs, and are compiled using a number of data sources that factor in various aspects of the college experience, including cost and graduation rates.

Right now NCSA has 38874 active high-school Men's Lacrosse athletes, and all of these … potential recruits can easily connect with 1058 coaches at 636 universities and colleges across the nation offering Men's Lacrosse athletic scholarships. In total, NCSA has aided over 72268 Men's Lacrosse athletes in their search for athletic scholarships and turning their dreams of earning a degree while playing in college sports a reality.

Earning a Men's Lacrosse scholarship to college used to be a full-time job for those just beginning the recruiting process, but now this crucial journey can be led by the recruitment specialists at NCSA. Student athletes wishing to use NCSA to help them in their search for a Men's Lacrosse scholarship have to first make their free profile. Next, parents or students must speak over the phone with a qualified NCSA scout who will conduct a thorough recruiting analysis to ensure that the student athlete meets the minimum conditions to get a Men's Lacrosse scholarship. NCSA then automatically connects eligible student athletes with suitable Men's Lacrosse programs by sending their recruiting profile to the right college coaches. Lastly, NCSA's scouts use their ongoing relationships to make certain coaches see the athlete's profile and use their experience to help guide her or him throughout the entire recruiting process.

Your NCSA Recruiting Coach is here to help you navigate the lacrosse scholarship process. Not a member yet? Get started by creating a free recruiting profile and connect with an NCSA Recruiting Specialist.

Common Misconceptions and Important Considerations

Don’t assume that schools have an endless supply of money. Simple math will exhibit that there are limited funds for even the best players. For example, both men and women’s Division I lacrosse teams that are fully funded have only 12 full scholarship available to them. Those 12 scholarships are seldom if ever given out in whole. Scholarships are typically divided into smaller partial scholarships and spread out in a predetermined fashion. Don’t assume that the divided scholarships are all for freshman because that too is a myth. Coaches occasionally give scholarships to loyal juniors and seniors on their team to round out smaller packages from previous years. Don’t wait until the summer to make money plans for the fall. The recruiting process is very rigid. There is no need to wait around and potentially miss out on other opportunities while you wait for information. If a school has said they are interested, then money is the next obvious topic.

Full-ride scholarships for lacrosse are rare due to limited funding compared to other sports, so coaches often distribute scholarships among multiple players. The good news is, you can still cover a significant portion, or even all, of your college costs by combining a partial athletic scholarship with academic scholarships.

A scholarship is not always for the entire four years of school. They have to be renewed unless stated otherwise.

The Recruiting Timeline

In April 2017, the NCAA adopted a proposal that banned college lacrosse coaches from communicating with recruits until September 1 of their junior year. In creating these rules, the NCAA was trying to make sure elite recruits didn’t get overwhelmed by contact from coaches. However, coaches begin building their target lists even earlier.

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