D2 Soccer Colleges in Texas: Programs, Scholarships, and How to Get Recruited

The Lone Star Conference and Texas D2 soccer

The Lone Star Conference is the dominant D2 athletic conference in Texas and one of the strongest in the country across multiple sports. For soccer, it provides a competitive environment that genuinely develops players — the quality of play in Lone Star Conference soccer is closer to low-major D1 than most families expect.

What the Lone Star Conference offers soccer families:

• Regional competition. Conference games are within Texas, keeping travel manageable and allowing families to attend games regularly. This is a meaningful quality-of-life difference compared to D1 conferences that require cross-country travel.
• Competitive depth. The conference has enough programs that conference play is meaningful — not just a handful of competitive games surrounded by mismatches.
• NCAA tournament pathway. Lone Star Conference champions receive automatic bids to the NCAA D2 tournament. Strong at-large bids also come from the conference. Postseason competition is real.

Dallas Baptist deserves special mention. As a private university in the DFW metroplex with strong athletic and academic programs, DBU competes at the upper end of the Lone Star Conference and recruits athletes who could play at low-major D1 programs. The campus is located in a major metropolitan area, which is an advantage for athletes who want urban access.

St. Edward's in Austin offers a similar profile: a well-regarded private university in a desirable city with competitive athletics. For athletes who want the Austin college experience without targeting UT (which doesn't sponsor men's D1 soccer), St. Edward's fills a unique niche.

D2 soccer scholarships at Texas schools: what to expect

D2 soccer programs receive 9 equivalency scholarships for women's and 9 for men's — and those scholarships are split across the roster as partial awards. Here's where the Texas financial advantage becomes compelling.

The net-cost math at Texas public D2 schools:

The pattern is clear: a 40% D2 scholarship at a Texas public school leaves a family paying $12,000 per year. A 20% D1 scholarship at a Texas public school costs $22,400. A 30% D1 scholarship at an out-of-state school costs $35,000. The D2 path is the most affordable — not because the scholarship percentage is higher, but because the base cost is lower.

Academic merit stacking amplifies the advantage. Many Texas D2 schools offer academic merit scholarships that can be combined with athletic aid. An athlete with a 3.5 GPA who receives a 30% athletic scholarship plus a $3,000 academic merit award at a $20,000 Texas public D2 school pays roughly $11,000 per year — less than the cost of most community colleges. For more on how scholarship stacking works, see our soccer athletic scholarships guide.

How D2 soccer recruiting differs from D1 in Texas

The D2 recruiting process is structurally different from D1 in ways that benefit families.

D2 coaches can initiate contact earlier. NCAA D2 coaches can begin communicating with recruits starting June 15 after sophomore year — the same as D1. But D2 coaches often have smaller recruiting staffs, which means they're more responsive to athlete-initiated outreach. An email from a recruit is more likely to get a personal response from a D2 coach than from a D1 coach who receives hundreds of emails per month.

The showcase circuit matters less at D2. D1 coaches recruit primarily through the ECNL, MLS NEXT, and national showcase circuit. D2 coaches recruit more through direct outreach, college camps, and regional club tournaments. This means athletes on non-elite club teams — regional USYS clubs, local competitive teams — have a viable path to D2 rosters that doesn't require playing on a nationally ranked club team.

College camps and prospect days are the primary D2 evaluation mechanism. D2 coaches host camps specifically to evaluate recruits they've been communicating with. Attending a camp at a D2 program that has expressed interest is one of the highest-value actions a family can take. These camps are typically less expensive and less crowded than D1 camps.

Playing time arrives faster at D2. D2 rosters are generally smaller than D1 rosters, and the recruiting pipeline is less crowded. An athlete who would sit behind four scholarship players at a D1 program may start as a freshman at a D2 program — and four years of meaningful playing time is worth more developmentally than four years of limited minutes.

How to initiate the process: build a list of 10–15 Texas D2 programs where your athlete's profile fits. Send personalized emails to the head coach at each — include your athlete's club team, position, academic info, and a highlight film link. Reference specific interest in the school (not just "I want to play D2 soccer"). For the email template, see our guide on how to email a soccer college coach. For where D2 fits in the broader recruiting process, our D2 recruiting overview covers the timeline and expectations.

How to start the D2 soccer recruiting process in Texas

Step 1: Honestly assess your athlete's level. If your athlete plays on a competitive but non-elite club team in Texas, is not generating D1 interest after sophomore year, and has solid but not exceptional athleticism, D2 is likely the right target level — and that's a genuine opportunity, not a consolation prize.

Step 2: Research Lone Star Conference programs. Use the tables above to identify 8–12 programs where the geographic, academic, and athletic fit aligns. Visit program websites, check current rosters (where did current players come from?), and run net price calculators.

Step 3: Start outreach by sophomore spring. D2 coaches recruit year-round and don't face the same calendar restrictions as D1. Earlier outreach gives your family more time to build relationships and gives coaches more time to evaluate.

Step 4: Attend college camps at 2–3 target programs. A $100–$200 D2 camp investment where the coaching staff evaluates your athlete directly is more valuable than a $400 showcase where D2 coaches may or may not be present.

Step 5: Schedule unofficial visits. Most Lone Star Conference schools are within a day's drive of any location in Texas. Visit two or three campuses on a weekend trip — see the facilities, meet the coaching staff, and let your athlete feel whether the school is a fit beyond the soccer program.

The bottom line

D2 soccer in Texas — anchored by the Lone Star Conference — offers competitive athletics, meaningful scholarship money, and a recruiting process that works for athletes who aren't on the national club circuit. When you combine partial athletic scholarships with Texas public university tuition rates and academic merit stacking, the total cost of a D2 education in Texas is often less than half what a family pays at a D1 school offering a similar scholarship percentage.

The families who navigate this best are the ones who evaluate D2 on its actual merits — competitive play, financial accessibility, playing time opportunity — rather than dismissing it based on a label. For many Texas soccer athletes, a D2 program where they start for four years, earn meaningful scholarship money, and graduate with minimal debt is the best outcome available.

For the D1 soccer landscape in the same state, see our D1 soccer colleges in Texas guide. For the national D2 soccer picture, our D2 soccer colleges guide covers the full conference landscape. And for the scholarship math that drives every offer conversation, the soccer athletic scholarships guide breaks down the equivalency system by division.