NCAA Division I Schools: A Comprehensive Overview

NCAA Division I represents the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). With 365 institutions, including those transitioning from other divisions, Division I is the second-largest division by school count in the NCAA. This article delves into the characteristics, requirements, and notable aspects of NCAA Division I schools.

What is NCAA Division I?

The NCAA, as the major governing body for intercollegiate sports, separates its member institutions by divisions. Division I colleges are generally the biggest, have the largest athletic department budgets, and their sports teams generate the most revenue. All of the schools that participate in bowl games and March Madness are Division I schools. However, there are some regional colleges and smaller private schools you may not be familiar with that are also classified as Division I.

NCAA Divisions exist to create parity and level the playing field. With divisions, schools should be competing against other schools of a similar size and with similar resources. For example, from 2006-2011, the athletics revenue for the University of Alabama was $124,498,616. During that same period, the athletics revenue for Alabama State University was $10,614,081.

Membership and Location

All colleges and universities on this list are located in the United States; all states (except Alaska) plus the District of Columbia are represented by full members.

Requirements for Division I Status

Following a change in Division I rules approved in January 2025, new transitions from Division II now require three years, and those from Division III four years. Both are reductions of one year from previous reclassification periods. Additional requirements concerning academic and scholarship metrics were added to the requirements for Division I membership eligibility. All moves between divisions require NCAA approval before commencing.

Read also: Enrollment at Notre Dame

Impact of the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

As a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, NCAA has made changes to player eligibility. First, prospective Division I and Division II players are no longer required to submit ACT or SAT scores (although submitting them is still highly recommended). Their academic eligibility will only be based on GPA and core course requirements. Additionally, the NCAA granted spring and fall 2020 athletes an additional year of eligibility and season of competition.

NCAA Recruitment and Eligibility

NCAA Division 1 schools comprise some of the best colleges for sports. These schools have more student-athletes and offer bigger athletic budgets than D2 and D3 colleges.

D1 sports are the most regulated by the NCAA. The NCAA has strict rules for the D1 recruiting process. These rules limit when and how often a D1 coach can reach out to potential players. The NCAA must also declare your D1 athlete eligible through the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Athletic Conferences

Many Division I institutions are members of athletic conferences, which facilitate competition and scheduling. Some conferences, like the America East Conference, Big East Conference, and Big West Conference, do not sponsor football. In certain cases, football-sponsoring members of conferences like the Atlantic Sun Conference and Western Athletic Conference participate in the United Athletic Conference (UAC), a football-only merger initiated in the 2023 season.

Several institutions are set to join new conferences in the coming years. For example, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, Texas State, and Utah State will join the Pac-12 Conference in 2026, while Northern Illinois will join the Horizon League in the same year.

Schools Competing in Division I in at Least One Sport

An additional 206 institutions in one of the NCAA's other two divisions compete or will compete in Division I in at least one sport. These schools are not members of Division I, but rather are members of Division II or Division III that compete in one or more sports at the Division I level. In many cases, these institutions play in Division I because their divisions do not have championships for a particular sport. Five institutions, all Division II members, fielded teams in a Division I sport for the first time in the 2024-25 school year.

Scholarship Opportunities

Players in D1 schools are competitive when it comes to scholarship money. It’s the coach’s responsibility to allocate scholarship funds among athletes. This might involve awarding a full scholarship to a top-tier recruit or distributing the funds across several players.

Institutional Name Variations

It's worth noting that some institutions use different names for athletic purposes or have undergone name changes due to mergers or system affiliations. For example, Stephen F. Austin State University's legal name is specified as "Stephen F. Austin State University, a member of The University of Texas System." Similarly, the University of Massachusetts uses "Massachusetts" and "UMass" interchangeably.

List of NCAA Division I Schools

Abilene Christian University (Abilene, Texas)
Alabama A&M University (Normal, Alabama)
Alabama State University (Montgomery, Alabama)
Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, Mississippi)
American University (Washington, District Of Columbia)
Appalachian State University (Boone, North Carolina)
Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona)
Arkansas State University (Jonesboro, Arkansas)
Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama)
Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, Tennessee)
Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana)
Baylor University (Waco, Texas)
Bellarmine University (Louisville, Kentucky)
Belmont University (Nashville, Tennessee)
Bethune-Cookman University (Daytona Beach, Florida)
Binghamton University (Binghamton, New York)
Boise State University (Boise, Idaho)
Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts)
Boston University (Boston, Massachusetts)
Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, Ohio)
Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois)
Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah)
Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island)
Bryant University (Smithfield, Rhode Island)
Bucknell University (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania)
Butler University (Indianapolis, Indiana)
California Baptist University (Riverside, California)
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, California)
California State University, Bakersfield (Bakersfield, California)
California State University, Fresno (Fresno, California)
California State University, Fullerton (Fullerton, California)
California State University, Long Beach (Long Beach, California)
California State University, Northridge (Northridge, California)
California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento, California)
Campbell University (Buies Creek, North Carolina)
Canisius College (Buffalo, New York)
Central Connecticut State University (New Britain, Connecticut)
Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant, Michigan)
Charleston Southern University (Charleston, South Carolina)
Chicago State University (Chicago, Illinois)
Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina)
Cleveland State University (Cleveland, Ohio)
Coastal Carolina University (Conway, South Carolina)
Colgate University (Hamilton, New York)
College of Charleston (Charleston, South Carolina)
College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colorado)
Columbia University (New York, New York)
Coppin State University (Baltimore, Maryland)
Cornell University (Ithaca, New York)
Creighton University (Omaha, Nebraska)
Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire)
Davidson College (Davidson, North Carolina)
Delaware State University (Dover, Delaware)
DePaul University (Chicago, Illinois)
Drake University (Des Moines, Iowa)
Drexel University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Duke University (Durham, North Carolina)
Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
East Carolina University (Greenville, North Carolina)
East Tennessee State University (Johnson City, Tennessee)
Eastern Illinois University (Charleston, Illinois)
Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, Kentucky)
Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, Michigan)
Eastern Washington University (Cheney, Washington)
Elon University (Elon, North Carolina)
Fairfield University (Fairfield, Connecticut)
Fairleigh Dickinson University (Teaneck, New Jersey)
Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, Florida)
Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, Florida)
Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Myers, Florida)
Florida International University (Miami, Florida)
Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida)
Fordham University (Bronx, New York)
Furman University (Greenville, South Carolina)
Gardner-Webb University (Boiling Springs, North Carolina)
George Mason University (Fairfax, Virginia)
George Washington University (Washington, District Of Columbia)
Georgetown University (Washington, District Of Columbia)
Georgia Southern University (Statesboro, Georgia)
Georgia State University (Atlanta, Georgia)
Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Georgia)
Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington)
Grambling State University (Grambling, Louisiana)
Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, Arizona)
Hampton University (Hampton, Virginia)
Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
High Point University (High Point, North Carolina)
Hofstra University (Hempstead, New York)
Houston Christian University (Houston, Texas)
Howard University (Washington, District Of Columbia)
Idaho State University (Pocatello, Idaho)
Illinois State University (Normal, Illinois)
Indiana State University (Terre Haute, Indiana)
Indiana University Bloomington (Bloomington, Indiana)
IUPUI (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Iona University (New Rochelle, New York)
Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa)
Jackson State University (Jackson, Mississippi)
Jacksonville State University (Jacksonville, Alabama)
Jacksonville University (Jacksonville, Florida)
James Madison University (Harrisonburg, Virginia)
Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas)
Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, Georgia)
Kent State University (Kent, Ohio)
La Salle University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Lafayette College (Easton, Pennsylvania)
Lamar University (Beaumont, Texas)
Le Moyne College (Syracuse, New York)
Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia)
Lindenwood University (Saint Charles, Missouri)
Lipscomb University (Nashville, Tennessee)
LIU (Long Island, New York)
Longwood University (Farmville, Virginia)
Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Louisiana Tech University (Ruston, Louisiana)
Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, California)
Loyola University Chicago (Chicago, Illinois)
Loyola University Maryland (Baltimore, Maryland)
Manhattan College (Riverdale, New York)
Marist College (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Marshall University (Huntington, West Virginia)
McNeese State University (Lake Charles, Louisiana)
Mercer University (Macon, Georgia)
Mercyhurst University (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Merrimack College (North Andover, Massachusetts)
Miami University (Oxford, Ohio)
Michigan State University (East Lansing, Michigan)
Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, Tennessee)
Mississippi State University (Mississippi State, Mississippi)
Mississippi Valley State University (Itta Bena, Mississippi)
Missouri State University (Springfield, Missouri)
Monmouth University (West Long Branch, New Jersey)
Montana State University (Bozeman, Montana)
Morehead State University (Morehead, Kentucky)
Morgan State University (Baltimore, Maryland)
Mount St. Mary's University (Emmitsburg, Maryland)
Murray State University (Murray, Kentucky)
NJIT (Newark, New Jersey)
New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
Niagara University (Niagara University, New York)
Nicholls State University (Thibodaux, Louisiana)
Norfolk State University (Norfolk, Virginia)
North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, North Carolina)
North Carolina Central University (Durham, North Carolina)
North Carolina State University (Raleigh, North Carolina)
North Dakota State University (Fargo, North Dakota)
Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts)
Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, Arizona)
Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, Illinois)
Northern Kentucky University (Highland Heights, Kentucky)
Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, Louisiana)
Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois)
Oakland University (Rochester Hills, Michigan)
Ohio University (Athens, Ohio)
Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Oklahoma)
Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Virginia)
Oral Roberts University (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Oregon State University (Corvallis, Oregon)
Pennsylvania State University (University Park, Pennsylvania)
Pepperdine University (Malibu, California)
Portland State University (Portland, Oregon)
Prairie View A&M University (Prairie View, Texas)
Presbyterian College (Clinton, South Carolina)
Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey)
Providence College (Providence, Rhode Island)
Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana)
Purdue University Fort Wayne (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
Queens University of Charlotte (Charlotte, North Carolina)
Quinnipiac University (Hamden, Connecticut)
Radford University (Radford, Virginia)
Rice University (Houston, Texas)
Rider University (Lawrenceville, New Jersey)
Robert Morris University (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
Rutgers University (Piscataway, New Jersey)
Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, Connecticut)
St. Francis University (Loretto, Pennsylvania)
Saint Joseph's University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri)

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