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AffordableSchools.net Releases Its Ranking of Ideal U.S. Colleges and Universities for Student Athletes for 2015

  • 08/24/15

SUNNYVALE, CA – AffordableSchools.net (affordableschools.net), an independent college search and rankings site that centers on unique and affordable offerings within higher education, has released a ranking of the 25 Best Colleges for Student Athletes in America.

Stanford University (CA) leads the ranking, which was compiled by looking at the number of NCAA team sport national championships each school has at the division one level, as well as the academic prestige of the school as noted by other top ranking sites. The University of California Los Angeles (CA) and the University of Southern California (CA) ranked as second and third, respectively.

Other schools in the ranking include (in alphabetical order):

  • Duke University (Durham, NC)
  • Indiana University (Bloomington, IN)
  • Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA)
  • Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
  • Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK)
  • Pennsylvania State University (State College, PA)
  • Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
  • University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR)
  • University of California–Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
  • University of Denver (Denver, CO)
  • University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
  • University of Georgia (Athens, GA)
  • University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, IL)
  • University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)
  • University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
  • University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
  • University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)
  • University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN)
  • University of Texas (Austin, TX)
  • University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)
  • University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)
  • Yale University (New Haven, CT)

According to Raj Dash, managing editor at AffordableSchools.net, “While perhaps the centerpiece of fandom, the assumption that the best schools for athletes in America are generally large flagship state schools with potentially less-than-rigorous academics is misplaced. When looking across the wide range of male, female, and coed sports, many of the nation's top performing schools are also many of the most academically rigorous.”

Many of the nation's top schools are also the oldest, allowing them to have developed long lineages of sending student athletes to the Olympics, or on to win individual or team NCAA titles. Notable trends include the inclusion of eight Big Ten teams, four California schools (including all of the top three), four SEC teams, three ACC teams, and two Ivy League Schools. In total, the ranking looked at the top 60 universities in terms of total NCAA team and individual titles, in the end narrowing them down to the top 25 schools in regards to academic rigor as well as athletic performance in the nation.

AffordableSchools.net (affordableschools.net) is an independent college search and rankings site with a focus on affordable colleges and programs within higher education. It publishes a number of rankings series focusing on affordable bachelor's degrees (various topics), affordable bachelor's degree colleges by state, affordable online degree programs, resource lists and much more.

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