Colorado Springs, Colo. (November 10, 2025)—Following an offseason review of its D-III college division, USA Ultimate announced today that the new limit for total enrollment for eligible institutions is 10,000 (increased from 7,500 since the division’s creation in 2010).

The new threshold was determined in collaboration with the College Working Group following ongoing evaluation since USA Ultimate first announced it was revisiting enrollment size for D-III schools last December.

The change is designed to provide more meaningful playing opportunities and competitive experiences for student-athletes competing for smaller schools in USA Ultimate’s college ranks.

Despite significant growth over the last 15 years, there are still portions of the country where the density of D-IIII programs – especially in the women’s division – results in postseason tournaments with few games and significant travel commitments. Increasing the size of D-III schools is also expected to lead to the viability and long-term stability of D-III regional tournaments, paving the way for a more robust postseason experience for a division that represents roughly a third of USA Ultimate’s 700+ college teams.

Other related recommendations made by the College Working Group and adopted by USA Ultimate include:

  • Teams from schools with up to 10,000 students who qualified for D-I Regionals in each of the last three years are automatically assigned to D-I, but could now opt to compete as a D-III team;   
  • Teams from schools with enrollment of 7,501 – 10,000 students may choose to remain in their current D-I conference but will need to meet strength criteria by 2028 in order to retain their D-I status;
  • Teams from schools with enrollment of 7,500 or fewer students can still pursue a D-I regional pathway or play in a D-III conference as usual, potentially qualifying to start in a D-I conference the following season.

In addition to enhancing the overall competitive experience for D-III players, other reasons were cited for the change, including the notion that removing traditional D-III schools that now exceed the previous 7,500 limit from their historic D-III ranks would negatively impact smaller regions, and some smaller D-I programs that haven’t been competitive might be better served in D-III, therefore strengthening more D-III conference tournaments.

Overall, the change is expected to impact six percent of women’s teams and eight percent of men’s teams with approximately one-third of those teams needing to be reassigned to a different conference. Only two schools would no longer be eligible to participate in D-III competition. Other projected impacts include an increase of D-III teams, as an overall percentage of college teams, to 36% (up from 29%), including up to 16 more women’s teams and 33 more men’s teams.

The change takes effect for the 2026 college season and USA Ultimate is currently in the process of communicating directly with affected teams to outline their various options. The 2026 College Division Guidelines, which will be published following the 2025 working group meetings in December, will provide more detail.