If your athlete is a strong base or flyer who also tumbles, STUNT may be the most realistic way to keep competing in college and get some of the bill paid. It is the head to head, scored version of cheer that USA Cheer built so schools could count it as a women's sport, and it just became an NCAA championship sport. The catch is that the programs are spread unevenly. Michigan, Ohio, Texas and California have a lot of them, and whole regions have none. Below is every varsity program by division, who is winning, what the scholarship rules allow, and how STUNT coaches find recruits.
Colleges with STUNT teams by division
USA Cheer keeps the official map of college programs. We sorted its varsity teams by division and set the scholarship rule next to each, because the division tells you more about the money than the school name does. Mercyhurst is listed in Division I to match the 2026 rankings, and the administrator's guide also names West Georgia as a Division I program.
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| Division | Varsity STUNT colleges | Count | Athletic scholarships |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Division I | Belmont (TN), California Baptist (CA), Cal Poly (CA), Central Arkansas (AR), Kentucky (KY), Mercyhurst (PA), Missouri State (MO), Northern Kentucky (KY), Pacific (CA), Tennessee at Martin (TN) | 10 | Up to 14 equivalencies |
| NCAA Division II | Ashland, Concordia Irvine, Dallas Baptist, Davenport, Drury, East Stroudsburg, Ferris State, Fresno Pacific, Hawaii Pacific, Jessup, Lake Erie, Lewis, Malone, Maryville (MO), Northwest Nazarene, Oklahoma Baptist, Purdue Northwest, Quincy, Southern Nazarene, Southwest Baptist, St. Edward's, St. Mary's (TX), Texas A&M Kingsville, Texas Woman's, Tiffin, Trevecca Nazarene, Ursuline, Vanguard, Walsh | 29 | Up to 9 equivalencies |
| NCAA Division III | Albright, Baldwin Wallace, Buena Vista, Centenary, Gallaudet, George Fox, Greenville, Heidelberg, Maryville College (TN), Misericordia, Muskingum, Randolph, Saint Mary's (IN), St. Norbert, Olivet, Whitworth | 16 | None, academic and need based aid only |
| NAIA | Aquinas, Arizona Christian, Central Methodist, Hope International, McPherson, Missouri Baptist, Missouri Valley, Park University Gilbert, Westcliff | 9 | Set by each school |
Club teams are the other half of the picture. Arizona State, Central Michigan, Grand Canyon, McNeese, Michigan, Michigan State, Nevada, Oklahoma State, Purdue, South Carolina, Texas and UC Davis all play club STUNT, and Kentucky Wesleyan lists a program for 2028. Club means no athletic aid and usually dues, but it also means a big university where an athlete can keep competing without a scholarship decision.
Best STUNT colleges by 2026 results
Results are the fastest way to read a program's level. At the 2026 college nationals in Nashville, California Baptist beat Kentucky 27 to 22 for the Division I title, Oklahoma Baptist edged Jessup 30 to 29 in Division II, and George Fox beat top seeded Muskingum 25 to 20 in Division III. In the NAIA and club divisions, which played in Bethany, Oklahoma, Hope International and Alma College finished the regular season ranked first.
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| Division | 2026 champion | Other top ranked teams (April 1, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Division I | California Baptist | Kentucky, Cal Poly, Missouri State, Mercyhurst |
| Division II | Oklahoma Baptist | Jessup, Davenport, Dallas Baptist, Maryville (MO) |
| Division III | George Fox | Muskingum, Saint Mary's (IN), Misericordia, Maryville College |
| NAIA | Hope International ranked first | Arizona Christian, Missouri Valley, Central Methodist |
A top ranked program is not automatically the right one. A Division II school ranked 15th may offer more playing time and a bigger share of its 9 equivalencies to a strong incoming flyer than a champion with a deep roster. Ask every coach how many athletes play each quarter and how many are in your athlete's graduating class.
STUNT scholarships and how far they go
STUNT is an equivalency sport, like acrobatics and tumbling. The coach has a number of full scholarships to divide. The NCAA limits are 14 in Division I and 9 in Division II, raised for Division I from 9 to 14 in a 2024 proposal that pointed at acrobatics and tumbling's identical limit. Division III gives no athletic money, and NAIA schools set their own.
USA Cheer's sample budgets assume about 30 athletes per team. Fourteen scholarships over 30 athletes is an even split of a little under half each, and coaches rarely split evenly. Not every program funds the maximum either. The useful question for a coach is not "do you give scholarships" but "how many equivalencies are funded this year, and how many are committed to returning athletes."
Division I schools inside the House settlement may now carry up to 65 STUNT athletes and are no longer held to a scholarship count, so a well funded program can give more than 14.
STUNT, acrobatics and tumbling or college cheer
Many recruits fit more than one of these, and the money works differently in each. A flyer who tumbles can be a STUNT athlete, an acrobatics and tumbling top, or a game day cheerleader, and each has its own coaches, calendar and award rules.
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| STUNT | Acrobatics and tumbling | College cheer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA status | Championship sport, first title spring 2027 | Championship sport, first title spring 2027 | Not an NCAA sport |
| Varsity programs | About 64 plus clubs | 53 for 2026-27 | Hundreds of spirit programs |
| Scholarship limit | D1 14, D2 9 | D1 14 | Set by each school, often a stipend |
| Format | Head to head game, four quarters, 45 to 60 minutes | Six events, 20 heats, up to 300 points | Game day plus a 2:30 competition routine |
| Season | Spring, first contest February 1 | Spring | Year round |
Our list of acrobatics and tumbling colleges covers all 53 programs and the 2026 rankings, and the page on colleges with cheerleading scholarships shows what 20 game day programs pay a year. A few schools sponsor two of the three: Missouri State and Hawaii Pacific run both STUNT and acrobatics and tumbling.
How to get recruited by college STUNT coaches
STUNT routines are published in advance and every team performs the same ones, so coaches can judge a recruit's video against a known standard. That makes clean, honest video worth more here than in most sports. Film your athlete's position in the partner stunt and pyramid routines if the high school plays STUNT, plus standing and running tumbling and jumps. Many high schools now field STUNT teams, and a varsity STUNT season is the clearest signal a college coach can get.
Then narrow by region. Most varsity programs sit in a handful of states, so a recruit in Ohio or Michigan has a dozen options within a few hours, and a recruit in New England has almost none. If the list spans three or four states, it helps to plan the campus visit trip day by day so one long weekend covers several schools and a home game. Watch a STUNT game in person if you can, because a 45 minute head to head game shows how a coach uses the roster far better than a highlight reel.
Short on tumbling? A season of private tumbling lessons before junior year adds the passes that decide the jumps and tumbling quarter.
Where a recruiting profile fits
STUNT coaches recruit from the same pool as college cheer and acrobatics and tumbling coaches, and a family usually does not know yet which path will make the best offer. A college recruiting profile on Cheerleaders puts skills video, position, graduation year, teams and titles in one place that only coaches with a verified college email can see. A parent runs it for any athlete under 18, and every contact request goes to the parent. The profile is free. 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 contract. See the parent plans for details.
STUNT college questions parents ask
What colleges have STUNT teams?
USA Cheer's college map lists about 64 varsity STUNT programs: 10 in NCAA Division I, 29 in Division II, 16 in Division III and 9 in the NAIA. California Baptist, Kentucky, Cal Poly and Missouri State lead Division I. About 15 more schools, including Oklahoma State, Texas and Michigan State, field club teams.
Is STUNT an NCAA sport?
Yes. NCAA members voted STUNT a National Collegiate Championship sport in January 2026, after it passed 40 varsity programs as an emerging sport. The first NCAA STUNT championship is planned for spring 2027. Until then USA Cheer has run college nationals, with 2026 Division I, II and III games at Lipscomb University in Nashville.
Do STUNT teams give scholarships?
Division I and II STUNT programs can give athletic scholarships, split as equivalencies. Division I may give up to 14 full scholarships and Division II up to 9. Division III gives no athletic aid. NAIA schools set their own awards. Most STUNT athletes get part of a scholarship, not a full ride.
How big is a college STUNT roster?
USA Cheer budgets a typical college program at about 30 athletes, and the NCAA sponsorship minimum is 16 participants. Division I schools in the House settlement may carry up to 65. With 14 equivalencies spread over 30 athletes, an even split is a little under half a scholarship each.
Is STUNT the same as competitive cheer?
No. STUNT drops crowd leading and dance. Two teams perform the same published routines head to head across four quarters (partner stunts, pyramids and tosses, jumps and tumbling, team routine) and win points per round. A game runs 45 to 60 minutes, where a competitive cheer routine is 2:30.
