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Every dedicated high school athlete deserves a shot at the next level. By blending geographic proximity, athletic reality, and academic clarity into one seamless application, NextUpCollege.com turns confusing recruiting data into a clear, actionable game plan.
Navigating the collegiate athletic landscape can feel overwhelming for high school athletes and their families. This tool maps 200+ four-year colleges and universities — filterable by sport, gender, division, major, enrollment, and distance from your home zip code.
One of the most useful books we have read on this subject is Significant Recruiting: The Playbook for Prospective College Athletes — highly recommended reading for any athlete and their family navigating this process.
| Division | Athletic Scholarships? | Aid Structure |
|---|---|---|
| NCAA D1 | Yes | Regulated by roster limits. Schools may offer partial or full scholarships to any player on the official roster. |
| NCAA D2 | Yes | Equivalency model — coaches split total scholarship funds across multiple players as partial awards. |
| NCAA D3 | No | Zero athletic scholarships. Aid is purely academic merit and need-based. ~80% of D3 athletes still receive financial aid. |
| NAIA | Yes | Athletic scholarships available, often combined with academic grants for competitive packages. |
Division I is the highest level of college athletics. Following recent NCAA policy shifts, D1 now operates under hard roster limits rather than strict scholarship caps — allowing coaches to distribute aid more flexibly across more players. Competition for limited roster spots is intense.
D2 offers an excellent balance of high-level athletics and traditional college experience. Coaches divide equivalency scholarship funds across partial awards — a 25% scholarship to four players, for example — frequently paired with academic grants to create affordable packages.
D3 is the largest NCAA division, emphasizing the student in student-athlete. No athletic scholarships are permitted — but do not rule out D3 schools. Roughly 80% of D3 athletes receive non-athletic aid, and a strong D3 package often rivals or beats a partial D2 athletic offer.
College coaches operate on limited budgets. A coach is far more likely to attend a local club game within a two-hour radius than fly across the country. Use the zip code field to center the map on your home location and prioritize regional programs.
A 50% athletic scholarship at an out-of-state public university may cost more net than attending an in-state school with no athletic aid. Always compare net price, not sticker price or scholarship percentage.
Select a sport and gender from the Sport dropdowns, then select a Primary Major. The map will show only schools that offer both that sport/gender combination and the selected major. Add a Secondary Major to highlight schools with both majors using a gold ring.
When you click a school on the map, the info box fetches live data from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard API, showing the middle 50% SAT and ACT ranges, admission rate, and test policy for that school. For GPA data, click the "GPA data" link which searches for that school's Common Data Set.
A gold ring indicates a school has both your Primary Major AND your Secondary Major. It only appears when both major dropdowns are selected.
No. NCAA D3 rules prohibit athletic scholarships. However, ~80% of D3 student-athletes receive need-based or merit-based aid. A strong D3 package can often match or beat a partial D2 athletic offer — always compare net price.
Sport program data is curated and approximate — verify with each institution. Admissions data is fetched live from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. GPA minimums are not published by most schools; use the GPA link in each school's panel to find Common Data Set information. NCAA policy reflects 2025–26 rules; consult NCAA.org for current guidance.