the biggest milestone in college lacrosse history took place in 1971 when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) held the first NCAA lacrosse championship. the top twelve Division 1 teams competed and have every year since. Prior to 1971 the championship was awarded by the USILL and decided by a vote. In the 1st NCAA championship, Cornell defeated Maryland 12-6.

In division I the NCAA allocates 12 scholarships for women and 12.69 scholarships for men. In division II there are 10.8 scholarships for men and 9.9 for women.

Lacrosse is not a NAIA sanctioned sport.

The National Junior College Athletic Association grants twenty scholarships per college for both women and men. These are full-ride scholarships but some junior college's offer partial scholarships. Top athletes of course tend to receive the best offers. There are twenty six schools that offer lacrosse scholarships for men and eleven colleges for women. Each school can only offer twenty in total, unlike the NCAA they cannot offer a larger number of scholarships at a lower percentage.