With several championship games coming up on Friday, May 5, 2023, college beach volleyball is more relevant than ever. Beach volleyball is very popular on the collegiate level, with the varsity-level sport being exclusively a women’s sport. Not only is it a popular college sport, but beach volleyball is also a popular sports scholarship to win.
Many prospective students want to know the best colleges with beach volleyball teams, namely varsity teams. Fortunately for these students, there are many colleges to choose from. However, for our purposes here, BrokeScholar decided to identify the best colleges with beach volleyball teams in terms of their educational quality as well as in terms of affordability. We took into account graduation rates, admission rates, and costs of tuition and required fees. We also noted which sanction body these colleges with beach volleyball teams fall under, such as NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) versus NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) versus NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association). All data was sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Read on to find out the best colleges with beach volleyball on the varsity level.
The Best Colleges With Beach Volleyball
The best colleges with beach volleyball teams on the varsity level tend to belong to the NCAA Division I-FBS sanction body, which is the top level. This is what juggernauts like the University of Southern California or Florida State play in. In general, NCAA colleges tend to be more expensive than NAIA colleges, though this isn’t always the case. Colleges that belong to the NJCAA are two-year institutions, or “junior colleges.” Both NCAA and NAIA colleges are split up into different division levels, such as NAIA Division I or NCAA Division II without football, for example. Another notable pattern is that the majority of the best colleges with beach volleyball are public colleges, not private not-for-profit schools.
According to NCES data, there are 103 colleges that have women’s varsity beach volleyball teams. We then analyzed those 103 colleges in terms of graduation rates, admission rates, and costs of tuition and required fees. Each college was scored based on these factors and then ranked. (Check out the methodology section for more details).
Here’s a look at the best colleges with beach volleyball teams on the varsity level.
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 37-3
The University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) is a top-ranked public university located in the heart of Los Angeles, California. The school's beach volleyball team has been a powerhouse in the sport since its inception in 2013. The team has consistently been ranked in the top five nationally and has won two national championships, in 2018 and 2019. The UCLA beach volleyball team has produced a number of talented athletes, including three-time AVCA All-American Megan McNamara and AVCA National Freshman of the Year Savvy Simo. In the 2023 season, the UCLA Bruins beach volleyball team finished the regular season with an astounding 37 wins and 3 losses. On May 5, they face either UT Martin or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
When it comes to academics, UCLA tops our list of the best colleges with beach volleyball. The university boasts one of the highest graduation rates in the state of California, at 92%. On top of that, UCLA is incredibly competitive to get into. UCLA’s undergraduate acceptance rate is only 11%, far superior to the study’s overall average admission rate of 72%. It also makes UCLA one of the hardest colleges to get into in America.
University of California, Berkeley
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 28-9
The University of California-Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is a public research university located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The school's beach volleyball team has been a strong contender in the sport since its first season in 2014. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament four times and has had several players named to the All-Pac-12 team, including Mia Merino and Mima Mirkovic. For the 2023 season, the Golden Bears beach volleyball team finished with 28 wins to 9 losses, and they will face off against No. 9 Long Beach State, which also made our list.
Berkeley is world-renowned for its academic quality. Its graduation rate of 93% beats out UCLA’s 92%. Berkeley is also very particular about admissions, having an undergraduate acceptance rate of only 14%. This makes it easily one of the most competitive schools to get into in California.
Florida State University
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 30-8
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university located in Tallahassee, Florida. The school's beach volleyball team has been a dominant force in the sport since its inception in 2012. The team has won two national championships, in 2014 and 2016, and has been ranked in the top five nationally every year since 2013. The FSU beach volleyball team has produced several talented players, including two-time AVCA National Player of the Year Brooke Niles and AVCA All-American Jace Pardon. In the 2023 season, the Seminoles’ beach volleyball team finished with an exceptional record of 30 wins and 8 losses. On May 5, 2023, Florida State will play against Florida International University, which also ranked on our list.
In terms of education, Florida State boasts a graduation rate of 83%, which is 25 percentage points higher than the study’s average, not to mention one of the best graduation rates in the state of Florida. And in terms of admissions, Florida State University is competitive. Despite being a large state school, Florida State’s undergraduate acceptance rate is only 37%.
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly)
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FCS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 15-25
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California. The school's beach volleyball team has been a strong competitor in the sport since its first season in 2013. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament twice and has had several players named to the All-Big West team, including Tia Miric and Emily Sonny. Unfortunately, the university’s beach volleyball team finished the 2023 season with a disappointing 15 wins and 25 losses, so there’s room for improvement.
Cal Poly is well-known for being academically rigorous. It’s easily the hardest college to get into in the Cal State System. With a graduation rate of 85%, it beats Florida State’s 83%. And it also beats the latter in terms of selectivity: The undergraduate acceptance rate at Cal Poly is only 33% compared to Florida state’s 37%.
California State University, Long Beach
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I without football
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 24-14
California State University-Long Beach (CSULB), sometimes just called Long Beach State, is a public university located in Long Beach, California. The school's beach volleyball team has been a consistent contender in the sport since its inception in 2013. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament six times and has had several players named to the All-Big West team, including Megan Kruidhof and Tyler Spriggs. For the 2023 season, Long Beach State’s beach volleyball team finished with a solid 24 and 14 record, good enough to place it in a championship game on May 5, 2023, against UC Berkeley.
Long Beach State is a big school, home to approximately 34,000 undergraduates and over 40,000 students in total. Even with all those students, Long Beach State maintains a graduation rate of 75%, which is almost 20 percentage points higher than the study’s average. For admissions, Long Beach State is no slouch when it comes to competitiveness. Its undergraduate acceptance rate is just 47%.
Stanford University
Type of institution: Private, not-for-profit
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 28-12
Stanford University is a private research university located in Stanford, California. The school's beach volleyball team has been a competitive force in the sport since its first season in 2013. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament three times and has had several players named to the All-Pac-12 team, including Jenna Gray and Caitlin Keefe. Having finished out the 2023 season with 28 wins and 12 losses, the Stanford beach volleyball team plays against No. 7 Grand Canyon University on May 5, 2023, in a championship game.
Obviously, when it comes to academics, Stanford University is the cream of the crop. Stanford’s graduation rate is an incredible 96%, the highest rate in the whole study. But it’s in terms of admissions that Stanford University really stands out. The university’s undergraduate acceptance rate is a mere 4%, making it one of the most competitive colleges to get into in America.
University of California, Davis
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FCS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 20-12
The University of California-Davis (UC Davis) is a public research university located in Davis, California. The school's beach volleyball team has been a strong competitor in the sport since its inception in 2014. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament twice and has had several players named to the All-Big West team, including Arielle Manz and Lauren Matias. The Aggies’ beach volleyball team finished out the 2023 season with 20 wins to 12 losses but will not play in a championship game on Friday, May 5.
UC Davis is a strong academic school even in the already academically robust University of California college system. UC Davis is one of the best colleges for environmental science, and despite having more than 31,000 undergraduate students, maintains a graduation rate of 87% — 30 percentage points better than the study’s average as a whole. In terms of admissions, UC Davis accepts just under half of all applicants (49%).
University of Washington
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 21-15
The University of Washington-Seattle Campus (UW) is a public research university located in Seattle, Washington. The school's beach volleyball team has been a consistent contender in the sport since its first season in 2013. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament twice and has had several players named to the All-Pac-12 team, including Kara Bajema and Avie Niece. The Huskies’ beach volleyball team completed the 2023 season with 21 wins to 15 losses, but lost to the University of Southern California on April 27 during the Pac-12 Championships.
The University of Washington is a high-caliber college academically, offering a wide range of fields of study and levels of degrees one can earn. UW notable is one of the best colleges for political science in Washington state. Its graduation rate of 84% is a full 27 percentage points higher than the study’s overall average graduation rate. And, in spite of being a very large public college, UW is fairly competitive with admissions. It has an undergraduate acceptance rate of 53%, substantially lower than the 72% average for the study overall.
University of Southern California (USC)
Type of institution: Private, not-for-profit
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 28-5
The University of Southern California (USC) is a private research university located in Los Angeles, California. The school's beach volleyball team has been a powerhouse in the sport since its inception in 2012. The team has won three national championships, in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and has been ranked in the top five nationally every year since 2013. The USC beach volleyball team has produced several talented players, including three-time AVCA National Player of the Year Kelly Claes and AVCA All-American Tina Graudina. The Trojans’ beach volleyball team finished out the 2023 season with 28 wins and 5 losses and is pitted against No. 13 Georgia State in the championship game on Friday, May 5.
USC is widely known for its excellent athletic teams, not to mention being one of the colleges with the most Heisman Trophy winners. But it is also academically a very high-quality university. With a graduation rate of 92%, USC ties UCLA’s excellent rate, while USC’s undergraduate acceptance rate of 13% makes it one of the hardest colleges with beach volleyball to get into.
Florida International University
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 20-16
Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university located in Miami, Florida. The school's beach volleyball team has been a competitive organization in the sport since its first season in 2013. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament four times and has had several players named to the All-Conference USA team, including Margherita Bianchin and Aren Cupp. The FIU Panthers finished the 2023 beach volleyball season with 20 wins and 16 losses, which was good enough for them to face Florida State in a championship game on May 5, 2023.
Florida International is a huge college, hosting more than 46,400 undergraduates and over 56,600 students total. Despite these huge numbers, FIU maintains a very solid graduation rate of 67%, a full 10 percentage points higher than the study’s overall average. In terms of admissions, FIU is not at selective as some of the other beach volleyball colleges to make our list, but with an acceptance rate of 64%, it’s still more selective than the study’s average of 72% for all 103 colleges.
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I without football
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 15-14
The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) is a public university located in Wilmington, North Carolina. The school's beach volleyball team has been a strong competitor in the sport since its first season in 2014. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament once and has had several players named to the All-Colonial Athletic Association team, including Halle Hunt and Madison Peters. UNCW’s beach volleyball team finished the 2023 season with 15 wins and 14 losses, which was not an improvement on the 2022 season’s 25 wins and 11 losses.
UNCW is one of top colleges in North Carolina in terms of academic rigor. Notably, it is also one of the best colleges for marine biology in the whole country, with an excellent series of programs for students to pursue. With a graduation rate of 72%, UNCW’s rate is far above the study’s average. Though its undergraduate acceptance rate of 68% makes it one of the less selective colleges with beach volleyball to make our list, UNCW is still more selective than the study’s average admission rate of 72% for all 103 colleges analzyed.
University of South Carolina
Type of institution: Public
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 19-12
The University of South Carolina-Columbia (USC) is a public research university located in Columbia, South Carolina. The school's beach volleyball team has been a consistent contender in the sport since its first season in 2013. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament once and has had several players named to the All-Coastal Collegiate Sports Association team, including Shannon Williams and Carly Schnieder. The Gamecocks’ beach volleyball team completed the 2023 season with 19 wins to 12 losses, which isn’t enough for it to qualify for a championship game on May 5, 2023.
The University of South Carolina is one of the hardest colleges to get into in South Carolina, having an undergraduate acceptance rate of 62%. Equally important, its graduation rate of 78% is one of the best in South Carolina and more than 20 percentage points higher than the study’s average of 57% for all 103 colleges considered in the study.
Tulane University
Type of institution: Private, not-for-profit
Athletic sanction body: NCAA Division I-FBS
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 24-10
Tulane University is a private research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The school's beach volleyball team has been a competitive force in the sport since its first season in 2014. The team has made it to the NCAA tournament once and has had several players named to the All-American Athletic Conference team, including Kaylie McHugh and Rio Frohoff. The Tulane Green Wave beach volleyball team finished with a very respectable 24 wins and 10 losses but does not have a championship game on May 5, 2023.
Tulane University doesn’t just have good sports teams. Academically, it’s a high-quality school. Its graduation rate of 86% is one of, if not the, highest rates for all colleges in Louisiana. Even crazier is how selective Tulane’s admissions have gotten over the years. Currently, Tulane University’s undergraduate acceptance rate is only 10%, which is on par with some of the toughest colleges in the US to get into. More specifically, Tulane excels in the sciences and is one of the best biomedical engineering schools in the country.
William Carey University
Type of institution: Private not-for-profit
Athletic sanction body: NAIA Division I
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 12-11
William Carey University is a private Christian university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The school's beach volleyball team has been a strong competitor in the sport since its first season in 2017. The team has had several players named to the All-Southern States Athletic Conference team, including Mollie Singleterry and Tiffany Phillips. In the 2023 season, the William Carey Crusaders finished one game above 500.
Academically, William Carey is a solid college with beach volleyball. Its graduation rate of 60% is better-than-average. And with an undergraduate acceptance rate of 57%, William Carey University is more competitive than most of the 103 colleges in the study.
Corban University
Type of institution: Private not-for-profit
Athletic sanction body: NAIA Division II
Women’s beach volleyball team record: 22-6
Corban University is a private Christian university located in Salem, Oregon. The school's beach volleyball team has been a competitive force in the sport since its first season in 2017. The team has had several players named to the All-American Midwest Conference team, including Rachel Tice and Lacy Ramon. Playing in NAIA Division II, the Corban Warriors beach volleyball team finished the 2023 season with a spectacular overall record of 22 wins to 6 losses.
Corban University is one the smaller side, with only about 880 undergraduates and just under 2,000 students in total. Sporting a graduation rate of 64%, which is seven percentage points higher than the study’s average, Corban University stands out even more for its highly selective nature. According to the data, only 38% of applicants were accepted, making it one of the hardest colleges with beach volleyball to get into on our list.
The Bottom Line on the Best Colleges With Beach Volleyball
These top colleges and universities with competitive beach volleyball programs offer a great opportunity for athletes who excel in the sport to compete at the highest level. Each school has a unique program and team, with a history of success and talented players. Whether you're looking to play at the national championship level or simply want to be part of a fun and exciting sport, these schools offer a great opportunity to get involved in beach volleyball at the collegiate level.
It should be noted that several of the colleges with beach volleyball listed above also ranked among the best colleges academically in their respective states. Thus, not only can you attend these colleges to pursue your passion for beach volleyball, but you can get a solid education tool. What’s more, like almost every college sport, there are beach volleyball scholarships available based on talent, GPA requirements, letters of recommendation, and other qualifications. Check out BrokeScholar’s huge library of college scholarships to see if you can find one that fits you.
Methodology
This study of the best colleges with beach volleyball varsity beach volleyball teams was based on data sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Factors analyzed included the following:
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Graduation rate
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Admission rate
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In-state cost of tuition and required fees (2023 academic year)
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Out-of-state cost of tuition and required fees (2023 academic year)
Each college was given a score for these factors, with the scores then added up, and finally ranked from best to worst. Individual college beach volleyball team records and RPI figures were sourced from the NAIA and NCAA rankings pages.
