2021 Top Women's D2 Basketball Schools
Student athletes have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we're committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our Best Colleges for Division II Women's Basketball ranking.
After analyzing 276 schools in the United States, we came up with our list of those that offered the best educational experiences for D2 Women's Basketball athletes. To come up with this ranking, we look at a number of factors that are all objective measurements. These factors include the school's overall quality as determined by our Best Colleges ranking and the athletic competitiveness of the school. Thus, in order to rank well, the school must offer a quality education in addition to having a great sports team.
Get more details on our ranking methodology.
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Since one ranking on its own is not enough to give you a complete understanding of your educational options, you can refine this list by location. We've also developed a number of other tools and rankings based on other factors. These other rankings highlight colleges that excel in other factors such as value or diversity as well as schools that excel in serving different groups of students such as online students or returnings adults.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
Top Colleges in the U.S. for D2 Women's Basketball athletes
See which schools came out on top of our ranking:
Our analysis found Bentley University to be the best school for D2 Women’s Basketball athletes in this year’s ranking. Bentley University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in Waltham, Massachusetts that handed out 1,106 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
The team at Bentley took home $1,115,187 in revenue and paid out $1,102,801 in expenses in recent times. Happily, this means that the team turned a profit of $12,386.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. Bentley excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our overall quality list.
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A rank of #2 on our list means Rollins College is a great place for D2 Women’s Basketball athletes working on their bachelor’s degree. Winter Park, Florida is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelor’s degrees to 664 students in 2018-2019.
On the financial side of things, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Rollins made $833,974 in revenue.
Rollins also claimed a spot on our overall quality list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Eckerd College. It ranked #3 on our 2021 Best Colleges for D2 Women’s Basketball athletes list. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and it awarded 507 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Eckerd took home $672,336 in revenue.
Eckerd also claimed a spot on our overall quality list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
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Out of the 276 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Adelphi University landed the #4 spot on the list. Adelphi is located in Garden City, New York and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2018-2019, this school awarded 1,262 bachelor’s degrees to qualified undergraduates.
On the financial side of things, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Adelphi made $657,449 in revenue.
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The excellent sports programs at Harding University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools for D2 Women’s Basketball athletes. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Searcy, Arkansas, and it awarded 888 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Harding took home $431,915 in revenue.
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Augustana University landed the #6 spot on the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. Augustana Sioux Falls is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It awarded 442 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Augustana Sioux Falls took home $752,345 in revenue.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. On top of its placing in this ranking, Augustana Sioux Falls also did well on our overall quality list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Michigan Technological University did quite well in the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking, coming in at #7. Michigan Tech is a medium-sized public school situated in Houghton, Michigan. It awarded 1,197 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Michigan Tech brought in $771,208 while tallying up $681,317 in expenses for its D2 Women’s Basketball team. Happily, this means that the team turned a profit of $89,891.
Michigan Tech also claimed a spot on our overall quality list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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With a ranking of #8, Ashland University did quite well on the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. Ashland is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Ashland, Ohio. It awarded 801 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Ashland took home $704,627 in revenue.
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University of California - San Diego landed the #9 spot on the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. Located in La Jolla, California, the large public school awarded 8,037 diplomas to qualified bachelor’s degree students in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at UCSD took home $1,080,753 in revenue.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. UCSD also claimed a spot on our overall quality list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.
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California Baptist University did quite well in the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking, coming in at #10. Cal Baptist is located in Riverside, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2018-2019, this school awarded 1,670 bachelor’s degrees to qualified undergraduates.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Cal Baptist took home $1,650,057 in revenue. The team has a respectable academic progress rate of 946.
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Western Washington University landed the #11 spot on the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. Western Washington University is a fairly large public school located in Bellingham, Washington that handed out 3,785 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at WWU took home $782,732 in revenue.
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Molloy College ranked #12 on this year’s Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball list. Located in Rockville Centre, New York, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 811 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
The D2 Women’s Basketball team at Molloy made $276,361 in revenue, while incurring $267,588 in expenses. So, the team made money for the school, bringing in $8,773 in profit.
With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Molloy also claimed a spot on our overall quality list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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Drury University did quite well in the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking, coming in at #13. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Springfield, Missouri, and it awarded 347 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
On the financial side of things, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Drury University made $730,316 in revenue.
With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
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Saint Anselm College ranked #14 on this year’s Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball list. Saint Anselm College is a small private not-for-profit school located in Manchester, New Hampshire that handed out 517 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
The D2 Women’s Basketball team at St. Anselm College made $824,581 in revenue, while incurring $808,333 in expenses. Thus, the team actually made $16,248, which isn’t bad at all.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. On top of its placing in this ranking, St. Anselm College also did well on our overall quality list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Regis University did quite well in the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking, coming in at #15. Located in Denver, Colorado, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 952 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Regis U took home $617,501 in revenue.
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Bellarmine University landed the #16 spot on the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. Bellarmine U is located in Louisville, Kentucky and, has a small student population. In 2018-2019, this school awarded 690 bachelor’s degrees to qualified undergraduates.
On the financial side of things, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Bellarmine U made $837,777 in revenue.
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With a ranking of #17, Grand Valley State University did quite well on the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. Allendale, Michigan is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelor’s degrees to 5,421 students in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at GVSU took home $840,100 in revenue.
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Saint Edward’s University landed the #18 spot on the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. Located in Austin, Texas, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 1,015 diplomas to qualified bachelor’s degree students in 2018-2019.
St. Edward’s University brought in $943,704 while tallying up $859,575 in expenses for its D2 Women’s Basketball team. So, the team made money for the school, bringing in $84,129 in profit.
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St. Mary’s University landed the #19 spot on the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. San Antonio, Texas is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelor’s degrees to 468 students in 2018-2019.
St. Mary’s brought in $594,493 while tallying up $583,498 in expenses for its D2 Women’s Basketball team. Thus, the team actually made $10,995, which isn’t bad at all.
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Rockhurst University ranked #20 on this year’s Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball list. Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 463 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
The D2 Women’s Basketball team at Rockhurst brought home $644,042 in revenue in a single year.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.
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Mercyhurst University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Erie, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 526 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Mercyhurst took home $757,295 in revenue.
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Union University did quite well in the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking, coming in at #22. Union University is a small private not-for-profit school located in Jackson, Tennessee that handed out 533 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
Speaking financially, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Union took home $865,357 in revenue.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Union excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our overall quality list.
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Lewis University did quite well in the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking, coming in at #23. Located in Romeoville, Illinois, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 1,234 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
On the financial side of things, the D2 Women’s Basketball team at Lewis made $605,979 in revenue.
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Assumption University did quite well in the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking, coming in at #24. Assumption University is a small private not-for-profit school located in Worcester, Massachusetts that handed out 571 bachelor’s degrees in 2018-2019.
The team at Assumption took home $769,629 in revenue and paid out $749,378 in expenses in recent times. Happily, this means that the team turned a profit of $20,251.
Assumption excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our overall quality list.
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Seattle Pacific University did quite well in the 2021 Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking, coming in at #25. SPU is located in Seattle, Washington and, has a small student population. In 2018-2019, this school awarded 723 bachelor’s degrees to qualified undergraduates.
The D2 Women’s Basketball team at SPU brought home $833,395 in revenue in a single year.
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Not only did these schools make the top 42 list, but they also landed in the top 15% of this year’s ranking:
Narrow Colleges by Region
Honorable Mentions
These schools also performed well in our Best Colleges for Division II Women’s Basketball ranking:
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Azusa Pacific University | Azusa, CA |
| 44 | Emporia State University | Emporia, KS |
| 45 | Truman State University | Kirksville, MO |
| 46 | Pittsburg State University | Pittsburg, KS |
| 47 | Wingate University | Wingate, NC |
| 48 | Saint Michael’s College | Colchester, VT |
| 49 | Pace University - New York | New York, NY |
| 50 | Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania | Shippensburg, PA |
| 51 | William Jewell College | Liberty, MO |
| 52 | Missouri University of Science and Technology | Rolla, MO |
| 53 | Merrimack College | North Andover, MA |
| 54 | Seton Hill University | Greensburg, PA |
| 54 | University of Southern Indiana | Evansville, IN |
| 56 | The University of Tampa | Tampa, FL |
More Nationwide Rankings
Notes and References
Footnotes
*Avg Tuition and Fees and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Revenue and expense information comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics Data Analysis (EADA) website.
- The academic progress rate (APR) of each team was made available by the NCAA.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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