Rugby Scholarships

Rugby is the fastest growing team sport in the US and its recent acceleration has been mirrored in universities and colleges across the States. FirstPoint USA now works with more than 100 rugby programs and some of the leading universities in the States, while our rugby activity is led by former Scotland captain John Barclay, who is our Director of Rugby. There are over 35,000 registered college players in the country, and the emergence of Major League Rugby (MLR) – which implemented its first draft in 2020 – has opened up a fantastic pathway for the leading players to play professionally after graduation.

USA Rugby governs the top-level collegiate competitions, while Women’s rugby has been acknowledged as an ‘emerging sport’ by the NCAA, resulting in significantly increased funding for aspiring young female players. And with a growing media profile, the Collegiate Rugby Championships 7s has recently agreed a two-year deal with CBS Sports which will further increase the reach of rugby amongst a US audience

Building on its popularity, the USA will be hosting the Men’s World Cup in 2031 and the Women’s World Cup in 2033, meaning the profile of the sport Stateside is set to increase further, with more and more universities and colleges investing in their rugby programs and recruiting players internationally.


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Academic and Sporting Preparation

Targeting University Programmes

Connecting with College Coaches

Ongoing Pastoral Care

To date, we've sent over 35,000 young men and women to the US. Securing over £300 million in scholarship awards and finding a place for every single qualifying applicant.

Every year, thousands of student-athletes and their families come face-to-face with the difficult challenge of securing a scholarship to an American university. What they often discover is that navigating university options is stressful enough, and adding sports into the mix brings it to a whole new level.

Even for those who do a little recruiting homework, they are often left with more questions, very few simple answers and an uneasy feeling they are somehow falling behind.

At FirstPoint, we understand what you’re going through. Many of us have experienced first-hand what the scholarship recruiting experience is like—as players and as coaches. And that experience, combined with our advanced online technology, expansive college coach network and proven recruiting methods, helps thousands of student-athletes and their families take control of their recruiting experience.

Whether you are a first-year high school student or a national ranked athlete, FirstPoint helps take the stress of uncertainty out of your scholarship journey by putting a plan in place to help you find your best university options in the USA.

HOW TO GET A SPORTS Scholarship

What our Student-Athletes say about us

Josh Mulhenny
"They've gone above and beyond "

Can't thank the guys at FirstPoint USA enough for helping my son get out to the US on a soccer scholarship. He's now in his second year in America and is loving it despite being homesick for the first few weeks! We spoke with multiple different companies before deciding which company to choose and although they weren't the cheapest, they've been with us every step of the way and only been a phone call or text message away if we had any issues. They never made any false promises or unrealistic expectations and delivered the service exactly as described. They've gone above and beyond to make sure we were well looked after every step of the way.

Sandra Mulhenny

Josh Hendry
"I couldn't be happier"

I couldn't be happier with my experience working with Firstpoint USA. Having just graduated from university in South Carolina, I am so grateful for the life changing experience and opportunities that have been available to me as an NCAA DI student athlete. None of which would have been possible without the expertise and knowledge of the staff at Firstpoint USA. Would highly recommend FPUSA to anyone thinking about going to university in the USA

Josh Hendry

Josh Mulhenny
"process has been made simple"

The FirstPointUSA team as a whole are excellent. The whole process has been made simple by their clear communication, especially Gemma Thomson who I worked with. The organisation in every aspect of their work is very good, and I would definitely recommend FirstPointUSA to anybody thinking about attaining a scholarship in the US..

Isaac Thomas

Frequently Asked Questions

Opportunities to earn college rugby scholarships are available for you. If you are a woman, there are many more such opportunities. There are approximately 90 NCAA Division 1 colleges and universities with rugby programs and many of them have women’s rugbyscholarship monies available. Schools such as Ohio State, the University of Michigan, Stanford University and San Diego State provide women’s rugby scholarships (including full grants-in-aid) as a method of satisfying Title IX requirements.

  • NCAA Division I has 12 colleges offering Scholarships per team and 215 athletes.
  • NCAA Division II has 12 colleges offering Scholarships per team and 147 athletes.
  • NCAA Division III has 5 colleges with athletic scholarships per team unavailable and 116 athletes.
  • Other has 2 colleges with athletic scholarships unavailable and 58 athletes.

The future of college rugby is very bright. The NCAA just recently named rugby of one of its “emerging sports“. This means that the sport is gaining more and more popularity and new teams are created basically every year. All varsity teams’ practice and compete at a very high and professional level. They have their own strength and conditioning coach, schedules that allow athletes to perfectly combine their studies and rugby, and all the academic help necessary in order to be successful in the classroom as well. So, if rugby is your passion and you are looking to continue playing rugby at the same time as getting a university education, coming to the US to play college rugby might be the perfect fit for you!

Live, study and play with top US Institutions

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