If your daughter is chasing college beach volleyball, the first question every family asks me is the same: which schools actually have D1 beach volleyball? The answer, as of the 2026-27 recruiting cycle, is 71 NCAA Division 1 programs — and knowing the full list changes how you build a target list, plan tournament travel, and spend your recruiting budget. I'm Mark Burik — professional beach volleyball player and coach — and I've helped junior players (and their parents) navigate this process for years. Here's the complete list, plus the honest math behind it.

How Many D1 Beach Volleyball Schools Are There in 2026-27?

There are 71 NCAA Division 1 women's beach volleyball programs heading into 2026-27, out of roughly 100+ programs across all college divisions (D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and junior colleges). That's remarkable growth for a sport that had only about 15 D1 programs in 2012 — beach volleyball is still one of the fastest-growing NCAA sports. On the sand — whether your daughter's club calls it beach or sand volleyball — that growth means more roster spots every year, but the competition for them is growing even faster: over 470,000 girls play high school volleyball, and only about 1,400 college beach roster spots exist at any one time.

The Complete List of D1 Beach Volleyball Schools (2026-27)

Here is every NCAA D1 beach volleyball program, grouped by state (source: ProductiveRecruit / NCAA program listings, checked July 2026 — programs are added most years, so re-verify any single school before you email its coaches):

California (18): Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSU Bakersfield, Long Beach State, CSU Northridge, Sacramento State, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Saint Mary's, San Jose State, Santa Clara, Stanford, Cal (Berkeley), UC Davis, UCLA, San Diego, San Francisco, USC, Pacific

Florida (8): Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida International, Florida State, Jacksonville, Stetson, North Florida, South Florida

Texas (8): Houston Christian, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TCU, Texas, UTEP

Louisiana (7): LSU, McNeese, Nicholls, Southeastern Louisiana, Tulane, Louisiana-Monroe, New Orleans

Tennessee (4): Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech, Chattanooga, UT Martin

Arizona (3): Arizona State, Grand Canyon, Arizona

South Carolina (3): Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, South Carolina

Kentucky (2): Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State

Missouri (2): Lindenwood, Missouri State

North Carolina (2): Queens (Charlotte), UNC Wilmington

Alabama (2): UAB, North Alabama

Oregon (2): Oregon, Portland

Georgia (2): Georgia State, Mercer

One each: Boise State (ID), Eastern Illinois (IL), Hawai'i, Central Arkansas (AR), Nebraska, Southern Miss (MS), Utah, Washington.

Notice what jumps out: nearly half these programs are nowhere near an ocean. Nebraska, Utah, Eastern Illinois, Morehead State — beach volleyball is a college sport now, not a coastal hobby, and coaches at those schools recruit players from everywhere.

What Does the D1 List Mean for Scholarships?

Beach volleyball is an equivalency sport, meaning coaches split their scholarship money across the roster — full rides are rare and partial scholarships are the norm. The recent NCAA roster-limit changes dramatically increased how many scholarships D1 beach programs are allowed to offer (up from the old limit of 6 per team), but allowed doesn't mean funded: every program decides its own budget. When you're building a target list, ask each coach directly how their scholarship money is actually distributed. If you want the deeper math, read my post on beach volleyball scholarships and financial aid.

How Should a Family Actually Use This List?

Don't email all 71 schools. Do this instead:

• Sort by academic fit first. Your daughter will be a student at this school for four years; the sand is only part of it.
• Build three tiers — reach, match, and safety — based on her current level and film, not her dreams. Ten to fifteen schools total.
• Check the roster pages. How many players in her grad year are they likely to take? Where do their current players come from — clubs, indoor conversions, transfers?
• Lead with film and honest metrics. Coaches watch film before they answer email. If her film isn't ready, fix that before outreach.

Here's how the recruiting process actually starts:

What Separates the Players Who Make These Rosters?

Structured coaching, honestly. The families I work with who land on this list's rosters aren't the ones who bought the most tournament entries — they're the ones whose player developed real, position-specific skills and could prove it on film. That's exactly what my 1-on-1 coaching program is built for: fully personalized training, video review of your daughter's actual match film, and direct communication with me, plus unlimited camps for 365 days (accommodations not included). It's the Elite Performance Package — $3,497 one-time or 3 payments of $1,200 — and it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

One honest caveat: it's application-only, and acceptance isn't guaranteed. It's built for intermediate-to-advanced players — high school, club, or NCAA-bound athletes who can commit about 3 hours a week. If that's your kid, apply for 1-on-1 coaching here and I'll tell you straight whether we're the right fit.

This is what a real coaching session in that program looks like — me breaking down a player's film live:

The Bottom Line for Parents

71 D1 programs is real opportunity — and 470,000 high school players is real competition. The families who win this game treat it like a four-year project: build skills, build film, build relationships with the right 10-15 schools. If you want help with the skills-and-film half, apply for the 1-on-1 program. If she's earlier in the journey, our camps and the $1 online training trial are the right on-ramp.

— Mark Burik