This is a list of the NCAA Division I outdoor champions in the pole vault. Measurement of the jumps was conducted in imperial distances (feet and inches) until 1975. Metrication occurred in 1976, so all subsequent championships were measured in metric distances. The women's event was introduced in 1998.
| Year | Athlete | Team | Height | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | ||||
| 1999 | Cal Poly SLO | |||
| 2000 | ||||
| 2001 | Arizona | |||
| 2002 | UCLA | |||
| 2003 | ||||
| 2004 | UCLA | |||
| 2005 | ||||
| 2006 | ||||
| 2007 | ||||
| 2008 | Katherine Morgan | Cal | ||
| 2009 | ||||
| 2010 | ||||
| 2011 | ||||
| 2012 | ||||
| 2013 | ||||
| 2014 | ||||
| 2015 | ||||
| 2016 | ||||
| 2017 | ||||
| 2018 | Olivia Gruver | Kentucky | [2] | |
| 2019 | Victoria Hoggard | Arkansas | [3] | |
| 2020 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| 2021 | ||||
| 2022 | ||||
| 2023 |
| Year | Athlete | Team | Height | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | Truman Gardner | Yale | ||
| Eldon Jenne | Wash St | |||
| Longino Welch | Georgia Tech & | |||
| Lloyd Wilder | Wisconsin | |||
| 1922 | John Landowski | Michigan & | ||
| Allen "Brick" Norris | California | |||
| 1923 | James Brooker | Michigan & | ||
| Earle McKown | Emporia St | |||
| 1924 | not held | |||
| 1925 | Royal Bouschor | Northwestern | ||
| Kenneth Lancaster | Missouri | |||
| Earle McKown | Emporia St | |||
| Philip Northrup | Michigan & | |||
| Frank Potts | Oklahoma | |||
| 1926 | Paul Harrington | Notre Dame | ||
| 1927 | William Droegemuller | Northwestern | ||
| 1928 | Ward Edmonds | Stanford | ||
| 1929 | Ward Edmonds | Stanford & | ||
| Tom Warne | Northwestern | |||
| 1930 | Tom Warne | Northwestern | ||
| 1931 | William Graber | Southern Cal | ||
| Verne McDermont | Illinois & | |||
| Tom Warne | Northwestern | |||
| 1932 | Bryce Beecher | Indiana | ||
| 1933 | Matt Gordy | Louisiana St & | ||
| William Graber | Southern Cal | |||
| 1934 | Jack Rand | San Diego St | ||
| 1935 | Earle Meadows | Southern Cal & | ||
| William Sefton | Southern Cal | |||
| 1936 | Earle Meadows | Southern Cal & | ||
| William Sefton | Southern Cal | |||
| 1937 | William Sefton | Southern Cal | ||
| 1938 | Loring Day | Southern Cal | ||
| 1939 | Richard Ganslen | Columbia | ||
| 1940 | Kenneth Dills | Southern Cal | ||
| 1941 | Harold Hunt | Nebraska & | ||
| Guinn Smith | California | |||
| 1942 | Jack DeField | Minnesota | ||
| 1943 | Jack DeField | Minnesota | ||
| 1944 | Phillip Anderson | Notre Dame | 4.11 m (13 ft 6 in) | |
| William Blackwell | Oberlin | |||
| Robert Phelps | Illinois & | |||
| John Schmidt | Ohio St | |||
| 1945 | Robert Phelps | Illinois | 4.11 m (13 ft 6 in)[5] | |
| 1946 | Bill Moore | Northwestern | ||
| 1947 | Robert Hart | Southern Cal | A | |
| Ray Maggard | UCLA | |||
| Bill Moore | Northwestern | |||
| Richmond "Boo" Morcom | New Hampshire | |||
| George Rasmussen | Oregon & | |||
| Bob Richards | Illinois | |||
| 1948 | Warren Bateman | Colorado & | ||
| George Rasmussen | Oregon | |||
| 1949 | Bobby Smith | San Diego St | ||
| 1950 | Bobby Smith | San Diego St | ||
| 1951 | Don Laz | Illinois | ||
| 1952 | Dick Coleman | Illinois | ||
| Lyle Dickey | Oregon St | |||
| Dave Martindale | Idaho | |||
| Bill Priddy | San Jose St & | |||
| Gordon Riddell | Colorado St | |||
| 1953 | Fred Barnes | Fresno St | ||
| 1954 | Lawrence Anderson | California & | ||
| Earl Poucher | Florida | |||
| 1955 | Don Bragg | Villanova | ||
| 1956 | Jim Graham | Oklahoma St & | ||
| Bob Gutowski | Occidental | |||
| 1957 | Bob Gutowski | Occidental | ||
| 1958 | Robert Davis | Missouri | ||
| Gene Freudenthal | Southern Cal | |||
| Jim Johnston | Purdue & | |||
| Stanley Lyons | Ohio St | |||
| 1959 | Jim Graham | Oklahoma St | ||
| 1960 | John David Martin | Oklahoma | ||
| 1961 | Jim Brewer | Southern Cal | ||
| George Davies | Oklahoma St & | |||
| Dick Gear | San Jose St | |||
| 1962 | John Belitza | Maryland | ||
| Dexter Elkins | Southern Meth | |||
| Fred Hansen | Rice & | |||
| Don Meyers | Colorado | |||
| 1963 | Brian Sternberg | Washington | A | |
| 1964 | John Uelses | La Salle | ||
| 1965 | Bill Fosdick | Southern Cal | ||
| 1966 | Chuck Rogers | Colorado | ||
| 1967 | Bob Seagren | Southern Cal | A | |
| 1968 | Jon Vaughan | UCLA | ||
| 1969 | Bob Seagren | Southern Cal | ||
| 1970 | Jan Johnson | Kansas | i | |
| 1971 | Dave Roberts | Rice | ||
| 1972 | Dave Roberts | Rice | ||
| 1973 | Dave Roberts | Rice | ||
| 1974 | Ed Lipscomb | Oregon St | ||
| 1975 | Earl Bell | Arkansas St | A | |
| 1976 | Earl Bell | Arkansas St | ||
| 1977 | Earl Bell | Arkansas St | ||
| 1978 | Mike Tully | UCLA | ||
| 1979 | Paul Pilla | Arkansas St | ||
| 1980 | Randy Hall | Texas A&M | ||
| 1981 | Dave Volz | Indiana | ||
| 1982 | Dave Kenworthy | Southern Cal | A | |
| 1983 | San Jose St | |||
| 1984 | Joe Dial | Oklahoma St | ||
| 1985 | Joe Dial | Oklahoma St | ||
| 1986 | Jeff Pascoe | Arkansas | ||
| 1987 | Doug Fraley | Fresno St | ||
| 1988 | Kelly Riley | Arkansas St | ||
| 1989 | Tim McMichael | Oklahoma | A | |
| 1990 | George Mason | |||
| 1991 | George Mason | |||
| 1992 | George Mason | |||
| 1993 | Mark Buse | Indiana | ||
| 1994 | Nick Hysong | Arizona St | ||
| 1995 | Lawrence Johnson | Tennessee | ||
| 1996 | Lawrence Johnson | Tennessee | ||
| 1997 | Clark Humphreys | Auburn | ||
| 1998 | Toby Stevenson | Stanford | ||
| 1999 | Jacob Davis | Texas | ||
| 2000 | Russ Buller | Louisiana St | ||
| 2001 | Southern Cal | |||
| 2002 | Brian Hunter | Texas | ||
| 2003 | Eric Eshbach | Nebraska | ||
| 2004 | Tommy Skipper | Oregon | ||
| 2005 | BYU | |||
| 2006 | Tommy Skipper | Oregon | ||
| 2007 | Tommy Skipper | Oregon | ||
| 2008 | Maston Wallace | Texas | ||
| 2009 | Jason Colwick | Rice | ||
| 2010 | Kansas | |||
| 2011 | Scott Roth | Washington | ||
| 2012 | Jack Whitt | Oral Roberts | ||
| 2013 | Sam Kendricks | Mississippi | ||
| 2014 | Sam Kendricks | Mississippi | ||
| 2015 | Akron | |||
| 2016 | Tennessee | |||
| 2017 | Matthew Ludwig | Akron | ||
| 2018 | ||||
| 2019 | ||||
| 2021 | ||||
| 2022 | ||||
| 2023 |