as @gumbymom notes, my son is a recent Ft Lewis grad (BA Psych) from CA, He did get a small scholarship from them for mountain biking, with WUE was cheaper than a Cal State. He had a phenomenal experience and is well prepared academically. Small classes at all levels, very accessible and supportive profs in a beautiful setting with breathtaking views in every direction. Reach out to the coaches and set up a visit. Coaching Staff | Cycling | Fort Lewis College | Durango CO
If your son wants to see how far he can go as a competitive cyclist, there is no better program. My son busted his ass and went from mid pack HS racer to USA Cycling top 20 ranked (XCC and XCO disciplines) pro for about 3 years, he earned his way to a wearing a USA jersey at UCI World Cup race in Austria in June of this year. He is home making some money and deciding between a few chiropractic colleges.
here’s his youtube channel
that’s the USA cycling college page, schools listed as Varsity have staff and scholarships. Those on the club list are student run and vary widely.
An aside, the only US male mountain biker at the Tokyo Olympics was Chris Blevins, a CP SLO grad who grew up in Durango. The 3 women, Kate Courtney, a Stanford grad who grew up in Marin County. Erin Huck went to UC Boulder and Haley Batten went to school in Canada somewhere.
when we were looking into it, CPSLO, UCSC, Humboldt CPP and UNR had the biggest teams - they had 5-6 races each season.
my other son went to Chico and also had a great experience.
I should add, Co College, UCB, CPSLO and even UCD are reaches for most freshman applicants. Just sayn… don’t spend lots of cycles falling in love with the perfect school if its not a good fit.
happy to answer any questions…