5 Schools Where Women’s Sports Rule

For years, women’s college sports languished in relative obscurity, with little to no media coverage. But decades of progress under Title IX have expanded opportunities for student-athletes and elevated women’s college sports to greater prominence.

Thanks in part to high-profile stars such as basketball’s Caitlin Clark, schools across the country are drawing bigger crowds, while media attention for women’s sports has never been greater.

In this article, we’ll look at the rise of women’s college sports, identify top programs, and explore how the programs achieved powerhouse status.

The growth of women’s college sports is evident in viewership and attendance. For example, the “Caitlin Clark effect” has turned rising interest in women’s basketball into a full-blown national spotlight. The NCAA has described women’s basketball’s recent rise as “rocketlike,” and you can see why: the 2024 NCAA title game between Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks averaged 18.7 million viewers, outdrawing the men’s final.

But this rise is not limited to Clark or basketball. In 2023, the NCAA’s Volleyball Day in Nebraska drew 92,003 fans, a world record for a women’s sporting event. And the 2025 Women’s College World Series finale averaged 2.4 million viewers — the best ever for an NCAA Division I softball game, according to ESPN.

When looking at participation numbers, the growth of women’s college sports is indisputable. The NCAA’s 2024-25 women’s participation report found 242,341 women student-athletes across all sports, up 14% over the last decade, with the largest participation in track and field, soccer, softball, and volleyball.

The number of women in leadership roles on campus is also on the rise, with a 24% increase in female athletics directors, and a 13% increase in female head coaches over the last decade, according to the NCAA report.

When we came up with a list of the top women’s college sports programs, we considered several factors: NCAA team titles, multi-sport success, consistency and longevity, and positioning in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, an annual measure of overall athletic department success across men’s and women’s college sports. The breadth of success matters most in our criteria, but historic dominance in a single sport also carries weight.

Explore our list of five schools with dominant women’s sports traditions.

Although there isn’t an exact formula a school can follow to build a women’s college sports powerhouse, we can pinpoint several factors that contribute to achieving that status.

Title IX is a federal law that, among other things, requires schools that receive federal funds to provide equal athletic opportunity to all students regardless of sex. The extent of a school’s direct investment in women’s sports, however, is up to each school. Strong programs usually demonstrate long-term commitment to equal-opportunity scholarships, facilities, staffing, and support.

As is often the case across the sports landscape, elite women’s programs often keep successful coaches or coaching systems in place for years. Continuity builds culture, player development, and recruiting credibility. Some examples of current, long-tenured championship coaches include Jenny Levy (UNC-Chapel Hill lacrosse), Patty Gasso (Oklahoma softball), and Dawn Staley (South Carolina basketball).

Playing in a strong conference forces teams to face high-level competition throughout the season. This boosts strength for tournament selections and helps in recruiting. In most sports, the top conferences are typically the “power four” of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC.

Powerhouse schools rarely recruit one class at a time, often building pipelines through club programs, high schools, international networks, and alums ties. This sustained recruitment effort keeps talent flowing and protects programs from down years.

Under NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rules, student-athletes can receive compensation for their personal brand, such as product endorsements or social media monetization. Schools that can provide more visibility (through televised games or social media reach) can raise athletes’ profiles. This type of exposure can help attract recruits, retain stars, and build fan interest.

Due to a recent court ruling, colleges can now pay student-athletes directly. What repercussions this will have on recruitment and college sports programs remains to be seen.