If your daughter or son cheers and you have started looking at college, an NCSA recruiter has probably called or you have seen the name at a USA Cheer event. NCSA has been USA Cheer's official recruiting partner since October 2023. The first question every parent asks is the one NCSA's own pricing page will not answer: what does it cost? Below is everything that can be verified, what each plan includes, the contract terms that matter before you pay, and what the same recruiting work costs when you do it the way college cheer programs actually recruit.
How much does NCSA cost?
NCSA's cost page lists five plans and no dollar figures. Its FAQ says prices are customized and discussed by phone after an assessment call. So the only numbers available come from families who paid and wrote about it. These are the figures we could read directly, with their dates.
Swipe sideways to see the full table
| Source | Date | Figure reported |
|---|---|---|
| Family review, Trustpilot | July 2026 | "The lowest costing tier was $1,399", after an entry offer of about $200 |
| Family review, Trustpilot | July 2026 | "$1500" for the lowest paid tier, paid over a year |
| Family review, Trustpilot | July 2026 | "$3,000 for a membership" |
| Family review, Trustpilot | September 2026 | "4,000 dollars", still being paid off |
| Family review, Trustpilot | September 2026 | "$5,000 plus we paid" |
| Complaint, ComplaintsBoard | Undated | "$1080 divided amongst 12 months", or $90 a month |
| High school newspaper, Grant Magazine | December 2023 | Tiers range "$1,320-4,200" |
Read together, the lowest paid tier lands around $1,100 to $1,500 and the personal coaching tiers around $3,000 to $5,000, spread over 12 or more monthly payments. Several recruiting companies that compete with NCSA publish estimates in the same range, but they are selling an alternative, so we have left their numbers out. NCSA's own blog puts a generic "recruiting profile" at "Free to $300+ per year", which is well below anything families report paying NCSA for a paid plan.
What each NCSA plan includes
The plan contents are public even though the prices are not. This is NCSA's comparison, read from its cost page on September 30, 2026.
Swipe sideways to see the full table
| Feature | Free | Champion | Elite | MVP | MVP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profile coaches can see, coach directory and map | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Message coaches directly, activity reports | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scholarship guidance | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Professional highlight videos | No | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Personalized game plan, direct promotion | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1 on 1 recruiting coach | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| SAT and ACT prep course | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mental performance and nutrition coaching | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Included |
The jump from Free to Champion buys direct messaging, two edited videos and guidance. The jump to MVP buys a person. That matters for cheer, because the parts a college cheer coach actually uses are a clean skills video and an email from a real athlete, and both of those can be produced without a plan.
Contract terms to read before the first payment
NCSA's Terms of Use, last updated June 12, 2026, contain no refund or cancellation schedule for memberships. The IMG Academy purchase policy, which covers NCSA, says refund terms "will be set forth in the applicable Product Specific Terms and/or presented to you at the time of Purchase", and it has no section for NCSA memberships. Four other points in those documents are worth knowing:
- A payment plan is an offer of credit. The policy refers to a Truth in Lending disclosure statement, and the parent is the contracting party for anyone under 18.
- Some paid subscriptions continue indefinitely until you cancel them.
- Disputes go to binding individual arbitration unless you opt out in writing within 30 days of agreeing.
- NCSA states plainly that it does not guarantee scholarships, roster spots, offers or replies from coaches.
Families' complaints repeat one pattern: a monthly figure on the call, then a contract that runs a full term, with reported exit charges from about $200 to more than $1,000. Because the parent signs for the credit, the monthly payment is a loan in the parent's name, and if your household is already watching its borrowing it is worth taking a minute to see what is weighing on your credit score before adding another installment account. Ask for the contract in writing and read the cancellation clause before you pay anything.
Is NCSA worth it for cheerleading?
Cheer recruiting works differently from the sports NCSA was built around. NCSA's own cheer pages say there are "no established recruiting rules or calendar for cheerleading", so coaches and families can contact each other at any time, and that most college cheerleaders are recruited through the college's own clinics, an emailed video and high level club competition. The same page says most college coaches do not evaluate athletes at high school football and basketball games.
Almost every program also runs its own tryout with its own video round. Florida charged a $35 tryout fee and took highlight reels from April 1 to 30, 2026. North Texas says tryout videos "do not have to be produced professionally" and does not accept footage from camps or combines. Louisville asks for up to three performance videos with the application. None of those steps needs a paid service.
One thing did change in 2026. At the January 16 NCAA Convention, all three divisions voted STUNT and acrobatics and tumbling into NCAA championship sports, with the first championships in spring 2027. Sideline and competitive cheer are still not NCAA sports. If your athlete is aiming at a varsity STUNT or acro team, check the NCAA rules for that sport with the college itself.
What cheer recruiting costs without NCSA
Swipe sideways to see the full table
| Route | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| USA Cheer college program directory | Free | 612 colleges with coach names and emails, scholarship and fee notes |
| USA Cheer college combine | $99 ($10 early bird off) | One day in front of college coaches, who attend free |
| College clinic at a target school | $60 to $250 in NCSA's own example | The coach sees your athlete in person before tryouts |
| College tryout fee | $35 to $50 at Florida and Louisiana Monroe | The actual audition |
| Highlight video | $0 self filmed, about $150 to edit | What every video round asks for |
| CaptainU (supports cheer) | Free, or $22.50 to $199.95 a month, no contract | Profile and coach outreach tools |
| Cheerleaders Recruiting Pro | $39 a month or $228 a year | Featured to verified college cheer coaches, 10 skill videos, who viewed, requests to the parent |
FieldLevel and SportsRecruits, the other names parents hear, do not list cheerleading as a sport, and SportsRecruits has been owned by IMG Academy, NCSA's parent, since May 2025.
A junior year cheer recruiting budget
Here is what a full junior year looks like for an athlete targeting three programs, using only the published prices above. One combine at $99, two college clinics at $60 to $250 each, three tryout fees at $35 to $50 each, a self filmed video, and a year of Recruiting Pro at $228. That comes to about $552 to $977 for the year, before travel. The expensive line is travel to clinics, and it is worth it, because a coach who has seen an athlete stunt in person is the coach who calls.
Before the budget, build the list. Our colleges with cheerleading scholarships page shows what each program actually pays and when it tries out, and the cheerleading scholarships guide covers the questions to ask before accepting an award.
Where a recruiting profile fits
A college cheer recruiting profile on Cheerleaders does one job: it puts skills video, level, graduation year, teams and titles in front of college cheer coaches who verified with a college email. A parent runs it for any athlete under 18, the profile is never public, and every contact request goes to the parent. The profile itself costs nothing; Recruiting Pro adds featured placement, up to 10 videos and the list of coaches who viewed it for $39 a month or $228 a year, with no multi year contract. The details are on our safety page and the parent plans.
NCSA cost questions cheer parents ask
How much does NCSA cost?
NCSA does not publish prices. The profile is free, and the paid Champion, Elite, MVP and MVP+ plans are quoted on a sales call. Families who posted their numbers in 2026 report about $1,300 to $1,400 for the lowest paid tier and $3,000 to $5,000 or more for the top tiers, usually spread over monthly payments.
Is NCSA worth it for cheerleading?
For most cheer families the paid tiers buy little they cannot get cheaper. Cheer has no NCAA recruiting calendar, college coaches list their emails in the free USA Cheer directory, most colleges accept self filmed tryout video, and coaches recruit at their own clinics. A paid plan mainly buys coaching on the process and edited highlight video.
Can you cancel an NCSA membership?
Refund and cancellation terms are not in NCSA's public Terms of Use. The IMG Academy purchase policy that covers NCSA says refund terms are whatever is presented at the time of purchase, and payment plans are credit agreements. Read the contract before the first payment, because families report cancellation charges of several hundred dollars.
Does NCSA have a free plan for cheerleaders?
Yes. NCSA's free plan activates a profile college coaches can see and includes the coach directory and map plus limited workshops. Messaging coaches directly, highlight videos and scholarship guidance start with the paid Champion plan, and one on one recruiting coaching starts with MVP.
What is the cheapest way to get recruited for college cheer?
Film clean skills yourself, email them to the coaches of schools you like using the free USA Cheer directory, attend each target school's fall or spring clinic, and try out. A USA Cheer college combine costs $99. A recruiting profile that verified coaches browse costs $39 a month or $228 a year on Cheerleaders.
