WACO, Texas – The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) announced the All-Academic teams and the Academic Honor Roll on Wednesday, recognizing student-athletes for their success both in the arena and in the classroom during the 2025-26 academic year.

South Carolina led the institutions with 12 First Team honorees while Georgia had 11. Full lists for each team and the Honor Roll can be found here.

There were a total of 132 student-athletes who were named First Team across the 23 institutions, while 38 were named Second Team.
 
The criteria for the awards is listed below:
 
NCEA All-Academic First Team

• Must have competed in a minimum of 70 percent of their school’s meets, not including demo or exhibition rides.
• Earned a cumulative GPA of 3.5 while maintaining full-time enrollment in the previous spring and fall semesters, respectively.

 
NCEA All-Academic Second Team

• Must have competed in a minimum of 60 percent of their school’s meets, not including demo or exhibition rides.
• Earned a cumulative GPA of 3.25 while maintaining full-time enrollment in the previous spring and fall semesters, respectively.

 
NCEA Academic Honorable Mention Team

• Must have competed in a minimum of 50 percent of their school’s meets, not including demo or exhibition rides.
• Earned a cumulative GPA of 3.0 while maintaining full-time enrollment in the previous spring and fall semesters, respectively.

 
Academic Honor Roll
The top academic student athletes who have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.25 while maintaining full time enrollment in the previous spring and fall semesters respectively.
 
About the NCEA
A non-profit corporation, the NCEA is a governing body to advance the sport of equestrian. The NCEA is responsible for the development and administration of equestrian rules and guidelines. Equestrian is subject to all NCAA policies and procedures in the same manner as other sports. In 1998, Equestrian was identified and adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) as an emerging sport for women at the Division I and II levels. 
 
NCEA competitions are in a head-to-head format, and schools may choose to compete as a single or dual discipline team (Jumping Seat and Western). Each discipline has two events: in Jumping Seat, Fences and Flat, and in Western, Horsemanship and Reining. Teams can have five riders per event, with horses assigned by random draw at the start of the competition. Riders from opposing teams compete on the same horse, and whichever rider receives the higher score earns one point for her team. The level of difficulty is demonstrated by the accuracy of the pattern and how the competitor uses the horse to the best of her ability.
 
To stay up to date all year long on all things NCEA Equestrian, follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @NCEA_Equestrian and @ncea_eq.