The Most Influential Colleges in Track & Field Today

Badge for MOST INFLUENTIAL COLLEGES IN TRACK & FIELD

By Dr. Winston Ewert and Dr. Jed Macosko

Updated: Mar 19, 2024

Find the colleges and universities that have the biggest impact in Track & Field based on the influence of their alumni in Track & Field. See which schools have proven histories of attracting and cultivating some of the most influential athletes today.

Most Influential Colleges in Track & Field

University of Oregon
University of Southern California
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Arkansas
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Florida
University of Houston
University of South Carolina
Stanford University
San Jose State University

Stanford University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Southern California
University of Texas at Austin
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Florida
University of Kansas
University of Oregon
Florida State University

University of Texas at El Paso 100%
University of Kansas 88%
University of Oregon 86%
Washington State University 83%
University of Colorado Boulder 81%
University of Alabama 80%
University of Arkansas 79%
University of Nebraska–Lincoln 79%
San Jose State University 77%
Louisiana State University 76%

Louisiana State University 22 to 1
San Jose State University 22 to 1
University of Houston 21 to 1
University of Arkansas 20 to 1
University of Oregon 20 to 1
University of Texas at El Paso 19 to 1
University of Alabama 19 to 1
University of South Carolina 18 to 1
University of Texas at Austin 18 to 1
University of California, Los Angeles 18 to 1

University of Southern California $64,726
Villanova University $61,618
Stanford University $58,416
Baylor University $51,738
Clemson University $14,118
University of South Carolina $12,288
University of Texas at Austin $11,698
University of Oregon $11,674
University of California, Los Angeles $11,564
University of Tennessee $11,332

University of Southern California $63,468
Stanford University $56,487
Baylor University $38,772
Villanova University $21,207
University of Oregon $16,011
University of Colorado Boulder $15,251
University of South Carolina $13,374
Washington State University $12,366
University of Texas at Austin $12,036
University of California, Los Angeles $11,700

Clemson University
Villanova University
University of Texas at Austin
University of Alabama
University of Texas at El Paso
University of Kansas
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Florida State University
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
University of Colorado Boulder

University of Texas at El Paso
Villanova University
Clemson University
San Jose State University
University of Arkansas
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Baylor University
Washington State University
University of South Carolina
University of Tennessee

Stanford University 4%
University of California, Los Angeles 9%
University of Southern California 12%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 17%
University of Florida 23%
Villanova University 23%
Florida State University 25%
University of Texas at Austin 31%
Clemson University 43%
Baylor University 46%

Stanford University 5 to 1
University of Southern California 9 to 1
Villanova University 10 to 1
Washington State University 15 to 1
Baylor University 15 to 1
University of Nebraska–Lincoln 16 to 1
University of Florida 16 to 1
Clemson University 16 to 1
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 17 to 1
Florida State University 17 to 1

University of Florida $4,477
Florida State University $4,640
San Jose State University $5,742
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $7,019
University of Arkansas $7,666
University of Texas at El Paso $7,704
University of Nebraska–Lincoln $7,770
Louisiana State University $8,038
University of Houston $8,685
University of Wisconsin–Madison $9,273

University of Texas at El Paso $5,865
University of Nebraska–Lincoln $6,138
San Jose State University $7,176
University of Arkansas $7,875
University of Houston $8,713
Louisiana State University $9,132
Florida State University $9,684
University of Kansas $9,989
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $10,552
University of Wisconsin–Madison $10,728

Key Takeaways

Combining studies and academics is quite a challenge. But for student-athletes, this is an experience to remember.
There are so many schools that have great track-and-field programs, it can be hard to choose. It’s best to check your options first to know which school fits your needs for sports and academics.
Student-athletes must avoid getting too caught up in a school’s reputation or name. They should try to set aside the school label first and ask themselves if the school is still a place they want to attend and be the right choice both academically and athletically.

Track & field is one of the most complex college athletics to rank for influence, largely because it is made up of so many different events and areas of focus. Top college track & field athletes will compete in areas such as sprinting, pole vaulting, high jumping, discus, and much more. Also included are decathlon events as well as cross country running, which is not officially a track & field event, but which has a great deal of cross over.

In other words, college track & field programs are generally the most athletically diverse programs that we rank. At the top spot is the University of Oregon, followed by the University of Southern California, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Oregon perfectly reflects the athletic diversity of this list. At the top of its influence ranking are three-time New City Marathon winner Alberto Salazar, Olympic Silver Medalist (10,000 m) Galen Rupp, Olympic Gold Medalist Matt Centrowitz (1500 m), record-breaking Olympic Gold Medal sprinter Otis Davis, and college long-jumper/Olympic Silver Medal sprinter Jenna Prandini.

Featured Programs

Track & Field: Vital to College Sports

Conducting a college search activity is a difficult process and involves so many factors. This can even involve other variables for student-athletes because they must balance athletics and academics.

While making the final decision is challenging, laying out your priorities and using them to help you guide your research will give you the confidence to make the right decisions.

Choosing the Track and Field College for You

For athletes looking for a great school for track and field, here are some factors you need to carefully consider when deciding on the best college or university for you.

Location:This is the most common yet critical factor most student-athletes in higher education consider as they start scouting for their college or university.

Some students prefer to attend schools in warmer climates where training is easier and more convenient, while some opt to attend schools where sports are the top priority for students and the community. Others want to embrace a lifestyle or culture usually associated with a region, while some want to stay close to home.

Finding an institution close to home—whether in-province, in-state, or within their hometown—offers many benefits for some student-athletes. Some of the benefits of attending a local college include the following:

The possibility of living at home
Reduced living costs and tuition (out-of-state tuition is expensive most of the time)
Students can keep part-time jobs (only if the training allows it) and even join volunteer opportunities
Staying connected with high school or hometown friends
Having more support and stability

But living outside of your home state or province can also present advantages, including:

The chance to become more independent
Exposure to new lifestyles, cultures, and experiences
More options to choose from
Possibilities of widening your connection for future career opportunities
Discovering new cities and making new friends

Athletic Offering: Since you’re a student-athlete, the athletic side of your university experience is very important, the make-or-break factor when narrowing down your options.

When you scout for schools, make sure you know whether the school you’re interested in enrolling in offers your sporting event. Some colleges and universities may not have track-and-field offerings at their schools—some may not even have track-and-field teams and instead only focus on cross country. Some may not have teams for both men and women.

You can check what track and field teams a school offers thru the program pages here.

Academic Programs: Academics is the other side of the coin for student-athletes. Many institutions have various academic programs they’re known for, and there are also programs they don’t offer at all.

It’s generally common for some students not to know what they want to pursue after high school. They need to look for schools with various programs or go for a first-year discovery curriculum to give them a few fields of study.

Academics is a critical part of being a college student-athlete. In reality, not everybody will become a pro athlete and earn a living out of it. Thus, you need to be a student first and an athlete second.

Tuition Cost: Tuition fees vary depending on the school, the program you will join, the location of the institution, and whether scholarship opportunities are available. Out-of-state schools are generally more expensive than the ones in your local state.

The overall cost of college is very expensive, so you must know your budget and the forms of financial aid available. Athletes, however, are fortunate since there are so many athletic scholarships.

How We Determine the Most Influential Athletes

For the time period from 2012 to 2022, we identified thousands of influential athletes in 10 of the most popular collegiate sporting fields, who attended or are attending college within the US or Canada. Being influential in the last 10 years does not necessarily mean that someone had to be playing during the last ten years. Influential people can cast very long shadows that can impact a sport for decades. While that is true, our algorithm is time sensitive, meaning that if one athlete’s influence is fading, while a younger athlete’s influence is capturing the world’s attention now, we catch and compare those, as well. The result: we have fun and insightful lists that highlight not only colleges with historical influence in a given sport, but also colleges that are shaping future legends now.

To build the list, we used our machine-learning-powered InfluenceRanking™ Engine (originally developed for DARPA) to find athletes associated with specific sports. Once we find all the mentions of “golfer,” “basketball player,” etc., we produce a numerical score of achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia and Wikidata. Our machine-learning algorithm does not just count citations. It goes several steps further by weighing the importance of web links to and from an athlete’s mentions, meaning larger publications have more weight. Furthermore, we consider web searches and page views associated with a given athlete.

Once we’ve identified and ranked athletes individually, our AI finds the colleges and universities the athletes attended and calculates the accumulative score of all of the athletes associated with the school, for a given sport. In the end, we list the colleges with the largest accumulative scores, and we show, in order of influence, all the athletes that helped produce the schools’ scores.

Find out more about our Methodology. Note: for the purposes of our overall list, the influence of entertainers, TV personalities, and models were adjusted downward.