Pole Vault Recruiting FAQs: Scholarships, Standards, and How to Get Recruited

By Jake Winder, founder of RISE Pole Vault.

Every year we walk RISE athletes and their families through the college recruiting process, and the same questions come up again and again. Here are the answers, covering how track scholarships actually work, how high you need to jump to vault in college, official visits, reaching out to coaches, and what RISE will and won't do to help.

How do scholarships work in track and field?

This changed significantly with the NCAA's House settlement, so here's the current landscape.

At Division I schools in the power conferences (and other D1 schools that opted into the settlement), the old sport-specific scholarship caps are gone. These programs can now fund scholarships up to their roster limits, which for track and field is 45 athletes per gender at most schools. In practice, budgets still decide everything: track programs spread their money across the whole team, so most pole vault scholarships remain partial scholarships.

At D1 schools that didn't opt in, the traditional model still applies: fully funded men's programs split 12.6 scholarships across the entire track team, and women's programs split 18. Division II programs split 12.6, NAIA schools have 12, and Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships at all (though they can be generous with academic and need-based aid).

The constant across all of it: the overwhelming majority of pole vault scholarships are partial, and to earn one you generally need the ability to score at that school's conference meet as a freshman.

How high do I have to jump to pole vault in college?

These are general height ranges for competing at each collegiate level:

| Level | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| NCAA DI | 15'0" to 18'4" | 12'6" to 14'0" |
| NCAA DII | 15'0" to 16'2" | 11'6" to 13'0" |
| NCAA DIII | 14'0" to 15'7" | 10'0" to 12'0" |
| NAIA | 14'0" to 15'7" | 10'0" to 12'0" |

How do I know if I could get a scholarship at a particular school?

Two good checks. First, pull up the results of that school's conference meet from last year: could you place in the top three at that meet as a college freshman, or have you already jumped high enough to? Second, look up the qualifying standards for their national meet: could you qualify as a freshman? If you answered yes to both, you're in a good position to talk about scholarship money.

How do I know if I could walk on at a school I want to attend?

Same method, slightly lower bar: look up last year's conference meet results and compare your current marks to the top eight places. If you could score points for that team right away, you have good grounds to ask for a walk-on spot.

I meet the height standards, but they won't let me walk on. Why?

Unfortunately, your dream school may not be an option even when you've accomplished more than enough to vault there. Every team differs in how many vaulters they carry and how much money is allocated to the event. Sometimes timing is everything: you could graduate with great stats exactly when there's an opening and money at your dream school. Perfect. You could also graduate with great stats when there are no spots open at all. In that case, it's time to find a new dream school.

How much do pole vaulters generally get in scholarships?

Let's use Coach Jake as the example. He was a four-time state qualifier, three-time All-State, had jumped 16'7", and was ranked sixth in the country in high school. He went to a big SEC school on a 60 percent scholarship, and that was the highest offer he received. The best pole vaulting school in the country at the time offered him a books-only scholarship. He knew that chasing a "big time" Division I meant accepting a smaller offer; at a smaller D1, a D2, or an NAIA school, a full ride would have been realistic for the same resume.

[PLACEHOLDER: Coach Luke's example is incomplete in the original draft — his ranking and what his offers looked like. Fill in before publishing.]

The honest answer: it all depends on the school, their philosophy, and what their needs are the year you graduate.

What is an official visit? How many can I go on?

An official visit is when a coach invites you to visit the school with expenses generally paid: flight, hotel, and meals. You're allowed five official visits.

How many unofficial visits can I go on?

As many as you'd like, but they're on your own dime.

Is Division I the best and Division III the worst?

Yes and no. To vault at a D1, you need to be in the "one of the best" category, and D1 rosters generally hold the highest vaulters across the divisions. But we compete in an objective sport. If someone jumps 18 feet at a Division III school, it's still 18 feet, and it still qualifies them for the big meets like the USATF Championships and the Olympic Trials. You'll find really great vaulters at every level, even though the general depth of competition at D1 is significantly higher.

Are there benefits to going to a Division III school?

There are benefits at every level, but two are fairly unique to DIII. First, DIII schools are generally smaller and can offer a more intimate learning environment. Second, coaching turnover is significantly lower than at the D1 level. There's a real chance the D1 coach who recruits you won't be your coach for all four years; we've dealt with multiple cases where the recruiting coach had resigned before the athlete moved in freshman year. Wherever you're looking, it's a fair question to ask the coach directly: do you plan to be here for the next four years?

Will RISE contact a coach for me?

RISE is here to help you through this exciting transition, but we are not selling athletes to coaches. Here's what we will and won't do.

We will respond to a reasonable number of emails, texts, and calls from college coaches who want to learn more about you and your vaulting. We do this all the time, and we do it promptly.

We will not start the initial conversation with a coach, because that's the athlete's job. Coaches want to see you initiate. They don't want telemarketers pitching them the next big collegiate vaulter. (On rare occasions, where we have a close relationship with a coach and a gut feeling that an athlete is a perfect match for a program, we may reach out first — but that's uncommon and has to be organic.)

We will not lie to a coach or oversell an athlete. Coaches don't want that, and neither do you. This process works when all three parties — RISE, the college coach, and the athlete — are open and honest. The good news: college coaches are recruiting potential. If an athlete looks like a finished product, coaches may actually be less interested, because there's less room to grow and impact the team down the road.

What are the top three things I can do to improve my chances of vaulting in college?

Simple answer: get good grades, listen to your coaches and train hard so you vault high, and start the recruiting process on time.

Good grades make the case easy when a vault coach goes to their head coach to ask for your spot; you don't look like an eligibility risk. Vaulting high is the product coaches are buying, and you give yourself the best chance by listening to your coaches, training hard, and staying patient with the process. And starting on time is what preserves your choices. Wait too long and the choice gets made for you, because you'll be picking from what's left over. Will some coaches say no? Absolutely. No big deal. Accept it and move to the next. The right school will say yes, and you'll end up where you need to be.

Should I attend the camps of colleges I want to go to?

If you want to, but it isn't as important as in some other sports, where camp attendance is a real recruiting "thing." In pole vault, it's not.

What's the best way to reach out to colleges?

Email first. Keep it short but sweet, tell them a little about yourself, and include a couple of videos. A good first email to a college coach contains: your name, age, and school; your personal best; your accolades; your pole size and grip; some speed metric; your academic stats; a video of your personal best; and a video of a favorite vault where you feel your technique was sound.

How often should I follow up? What if a coach doesn't answer?

After the initial email, wait a week or two. No response? Send a polite follow-up asking if they saw your email, and include the same contents so they don't have to go searching. Still nothing? Wait two more weeks and hit it once more. If they don't respond after that, move on. It wasn't meant to be, and there's a better place out there for you.

Is social media important in college recruiting?

Some coaches absolutely check it, and several have told us directly that they use it as a recruiting tool — overwhelmingly Instagram. In one case, a coach was recruiting one of the best vaulters in the country, visited their Instagram, and decided not to pursue them. That's not meant to scare you, just to make you aware: your social media is a direct representation of who you are, so make sure it's sending the message you intend.

Some athletes create a dedicated pole vault Instagram handle for their vaulting content so coaches can easily follow their progress. If you need video, RISE instructors can easily capture some for you — just ask.

What is the NAIA, and can I get a scholarship there?

Like the NCAA, the NAIA is a governing body of collegiate athletics, and incredible athletes have come through it with great success. NAIA scholarship rules are less restrictive than the NCAA's, so there can be higher potential at these schools to put together some form of scholarship.