Collegiate fencing has existed for a long time, with some of the first university teams coming from the prestigious Ivy League. While there are close to 100 schools offering some sort of fencing program, only about half of those actually have a varsity team, meaning that the number of scholarship opportunities in college fencing are somewhat limited. Of course, only varsity teams can qualify for the national championships, which just like in every other NCAA sport is the highlight of each season.
Even though fencing might be considered by many as an individual sport, collegiate fencing tournaments are run as team events. Fencing teams consist of three fencers per weapon and gender, and schools compete against each other, one on one. However, a fencer’s individual results in college tournaments and at the regional championship are used to select fencers for the national championship. Individual results from fencers from the same team are then combined to determine a team’s total score and place in a respective tournament.
Our athletic scholarship scouting and recruiting service can help you when applying for a NCAA fencing scholarships. You may well be the best fencer in your state, but to get recruited and be in line for fencing financial aid, you need to let the college coaches know who you are and what you can offer their fencing program.
Not all college athletic scholarships are full ride, like basketball and football. These are called head count sports. Most are classified as “equivalency” sports, like college fencing. Put simply, this means that coaches can “share” their scholarship allocation between a larger number of fencers.
This is good news for fencers. If we take women’s fencing as an example, we can see that a coach can divide the five scholarships between a larger number of women, say eight partial women’s fencing scholarships instead of five full-ride scholarships. If you are good enough of course, then a full-ride college fencing scholarship is always on the cards.
The NCAA allows each division one college fencing program, 4.5 scholarships for men and five for women. In division II, the ratio is 4.5 scholarships for men and also 4.5 for women.
As a high school fencer, you should be aware that the standard of college fencing is very high. I would recommend that you attend a few tournaments to gauge the actual intensity of fencing at this level. Remember that only the absolute top fencers will be approached with offers.
College fencing scouting is very competitive. The scouts are looking for fencers that have a lot of future potential. You should attend a college fencing camp because this will increase your chances of being scouted by fencing recruiters.
The process of finding and contacting fencing coaches and dealing with the rules and regulations enforced by the NCAA and NAIA is quite a daunting process for both athletes and parents. The use of our sports scholarship recruiting and scouting service is a must for all athletes who are serious about college fencing.
Many fine young athletes are overlooked each year because they didn’t submit their athletic profile to the “right” colleges or left out vital information. It’s also a fact that many colleges simply don’t allocate all of their fencing recruiting funds because “suitable” athletes didn’t approach them.
Traditional fencing scholarships are competitive and require minimum GPA requirements, partly due to the fact that the sport is not found at many colleges. As the sport grows in popularity in the United States, so will competition for scholarships.
Our analysis found Harvard University to be the best school for Men’s Fencing athletes in this year’s ranking. Harvard is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It awarded 2,902 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Yes, UCLA accepts fencers and provides fencing scholarships.
Over the course of the 69 NCAA fencing championships since 1941, 32 different schools have hosted them with Notre Dame having hosted the most with nine, Ohio State with five, and the Air Force Academy and Wisconsin(Parkside) hosting four each.
Colleges with NCAA sanctioned fencing teams. In 2021/2022 academic year, 44 colleges in total have NCAA sanctioned fencing teams across Division 1, 2 and 3. There are 28 colleges in Division 1, 1 college in Division 2 and 15 college fencing teams in Division 3.
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