Participation is up 55% over the past decade, with soccer, wrestling and tennis driving the latest gains
Hispanic Heritage Month, observed Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year, arrives with Hispanic/Latino student-athlete participation at its highest point on record across the NCAA.
The record-breaking number — 38,778 — reflects a decade of steady expansion rather than a single-year surge. Participation has grown 55% since 2015-16, adding nearly 14,000 student-athletes across all three divisions.
While the year-over-year change is relatively flat, sports like men’s wrestling, men’s golf and women’s beach volleyball all posted gains of more than 8%, while men’s soccer again added more total Hispanic/Latino student-athletes than any other sport between 2024-25 and 2025-26.
The data below, drawn from NCAA research demographics and sports sponsorship and participation data submitted annually by member schools, highlights the continued rise and achievements of Hispanic/Latino student-athletes across the Association.
Growth in Hispanic/Latino student-athlete participation
In 2025-26, there were 38,778 Hispanic/Latino student-athletes, making up 7% of the total student-athlete population. Over the past five years, participation has grown by 7,472 student-athletes (23.9%), and over the past decade by 13,786 (55.2%).
Totals by division
Division I
(5.8% of Division I;
29.7% of all Hispanic/Latino student-athletes)
Division II
(8.1% of Division II;
29.3% of all Hispanic/Latino student-athletes)
Division III
(7.5% of Division III;
41% of all Hispanic/Latino student-athletes)
Top sports by total number of Hispanic/Latino student-athletes
- Soccer: 4,795
- Football: 3,866
- Baseball: 3,425
- Outdoor track and field: 2,416
- Indoor track and field: 1,974
- Soccer: 2,946
- Softball: 2,151
- Outdoor track and field: 2,109
- Indoor track and field: 1,846
- Volleyball: 1,377
Sports with the highest percentage of Hispanic/Latino student-athletes
- Soccer: 17%
- Wrestling: 10.4%
- Volleyball: 10%
- Tennis: 9.4%
- Water polo: 9.2%
(percentage of total participation)
- Soccer: 17.8%
- Water polo: 12.2%
- Softball: 9.8%
- Soccer: 9.8%
- Rugby: 9.4%
(percentage of total participation)
Sports with the biggest percentage growth of Hispanic/Latino student-athletes*
One-year growth (2024-25 to 2025-26):
Men’s sports, percentage growth
- Wrestling: 8.9%.
- Golf: 8.3%.
- Tennis: 6.9%.
Women’s sports, percentage growth
- Beach volleyball: 28%.
- Wrestling: 18%.
- Acrobatics and tumbling: 12%.
Five-year growth (2020-21 to 2025-26):
Men’s sports, percentage growth
- Golf: 51%.
- Tennis: 44%.
- Indoor track and field: 41%.
Men’s sports, total participant growth
- Soccer: 1,151.
- Football: 706.
- Indoor track and field: 572.
Women’s sports, percentage growth
- Wrestling: 206%.
- Acrobatics and tumbling: 129%.
- Field hockey: 62%.
Women’s sports, total participant growth
- Indoor track and field: 487.
- Soccer: 476.
- Outdoor track and field: 340.
10-year growth (2015-16 to 2025-26):
Men’s sports, percentage growth
- Lacrosse: 93%.
- Wrestling: 91%.
- Volleyball: 80%.
Men’s sports, total participant growth
- Soccer: 1,877.
- Football: 1,266.
- Baseball: 1,252.
Women’s sports, percentage growth
- Beach volleyball: 171%.
- Field hockey: 139%.
- Lacrosse: 98%.
Women’s sports, total participant growth
- Soccer: 991.
- Indoor track and field: 775.
- Outdoor track and field: 713.
*Sports with fewer than 100 Hispanic/Latino student-athletes in 2025-26 are excluded from the percentage-change lists.
Graduation Success Rates
Hispanic/Latino student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom. Their Division I Graduation Success Rate stands at 89%, up 25 percentage points from the first year of GSR data in 2002, when the rate was 64%. The gains are even steeper among Hispanic/Latino men, whose GSR has climbed from 56% to 85% over that span, while Hispanic/Latina women have moved from 79% to 93%.
