Among the three NCAA divisions, Division I schools generally have the biggest student bodies, manage the largest athletics budgets and offer the most generous number of scholarships.
With 350 member schools, including 23 historically black colleges and universities, Division I schools field more than 6,700 athletics teams and provide opportunities for more than 187,000 student-athletes to compete in NCAA sports each year.
The median undergraduate enrollment is 8,763 — more than double the combined median size of Division II (2,430) and Division III (1,862) members.
After the NCAA created its three divisions in 1973, Division I was subdivided for football purposes in 1978 into Division I-A (the principal football schools), Division I-AA (remainder of football-playing schools) and Division I (schools not sponsoring football). In 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision, respectively.
There are currently 130 FBS programs that participate in postseason bowl games, including 65 programs from the five autonomy conferences (the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences) and football independent Notre Dame. All 130 FBS programs are eligible to compete for the national championship, which is conducted by the College Football Playoff.
A total of 123 FCS members conduct their postseason within a bracketed tournament, conducted by the NCAA.
Currently, 97 Division I schools do not sponsor football.
In all other sports, Division I conferences and member schools compete for the same postseason opportunities.
To be a Division I member, FBS schools must sponsor a minimum of 16 sports, and FCS and nonfootball schools must sponsor a minimum of 14 sports. To learn more about becoming a member of Division I, click here.
Division I Member Directory
Among the three NCAA divisions, Division I schools generally have the biggest student bodies, manage the largest athletics budgets and offer the most generous number of scholarships.
With 350 member schools, including 23 historically black colleges and universities, Division I schools field more than 6,700 athletics teams and provide opportunities for more than 187,000 student-athletes to compete in NCAA sports each year.
The median undergraduate enrollment is 8,763 — more than double the combined median size of Division II (2,430) and Division III (1,862) members.
After the NCAA created its three divisions in 1973, Division I was subdivided for football purposes in 1978 into Division I-A (the principal football schools), Division I-AA (remainder of football-playing schools) and Division I (schools not sponsoring football). In 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision, respectively.
There are currently 130 FBS programs that participate in postseason bowl games, including 65 programs from the five autonomy conferences (the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences) and football independent Notre Dame. All 130 FBS programs are eligible to compete for the national championship, which is conducted by the College Football Playoff.
A total of 123 FCS members conduct their postseason within a bracketed tournament, conducted by the NCAA.
Currently, 97 Division I schools do not sponsor football.
In all other sports, Division I conferences and member schools compete for the same postseason opportunities.
To be a Division I member, FBS schools must sponsor a minimum of 16 sports, and FCS and nonfootball schools must sponsor a minimum of 14 sports. To learn more about becoming a member of Division I, click here.
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