DIVISION I
Division, I athletics have guidelines that help ensure academic success and fairness across member schools in the form of financial aid award rules. Each school must offer the minimum number of financial aid awards to student-athletes while being careful not to exceed the cap established to ensure fair competition.
For a particular school to be classified as a Division I member, it must meet a minimum number of sponsored sports for both men and women - seven for both men and women, or six for men, and eight for women. In addition, each Division I athletic program also requires a minimum participation commitment, varying by sport.
More specifically, for each sport, other than football and basketball, Division I schools must play a specified number of contests against Division I opponents with 50 percent of any additional games coming against Division I opponents as well. Men's and women's basketball teams must play all but two games against Division I teams, and men must play one-third of all their contests in the home arena.
Schools that have football are classified as Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). FBS football schools are usually fairly elaborate programs whose football teams must meet minimum attendance requirements (average 15,000 people in actual or paid attendance per home game), which must be met once in a rolling two-year period. FCS teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements.
DIVISION II
The emphasis on your experience in Division II is a comprehensive program of learning and development in a personal setting. The Division II approach provides growth opportunities through academic achievement, learning in high-level competition and development of positive societal attitudes in service to the community. The balance and integration of these different areas of learning opportunity provide Division II student-athletes with a path to graduation while cultivating a variety of skills and knowledge for life ahead.
Each Division II school has a maximum amount of financial aid awards for each sport that it must not exceed. Few Division II student-athletes receive full scholarships, so most of them pay for school through a combination of scholarship money, grants, student loans, and employment earnings. Division II sports are financed by the institution's budget like other academic departments on campus.
A Division II classification in athletics is also based on the number of sponsored sports for men and women. Each institution must sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each gender. While traditional rivalries with regional institutions dominate schedules of many Division II athletics programs, football and basketball share contest and participation minimums and scheduling criteria, with 50 percent of their games against Division II or Division I FBS or Division I FCS opponents. Other sports, however, have no scheduling requirements and no Division II sports have any type of attendance requirements.
DIVISION III
Division III athletics departments place special importance on the impact of sports on the participants rather than the spectators. Your experience is of paramount concern. Division III athletics encourages participation by maximizing the number and variety of athletic opportunities made available to you, placing primary emphasis on regional in-season and conference competition.
Institutions in Division III, as in other divisions, must participate in a minimum of sports. Division III schools are required to sponsor five sports for men and five for women, with the minimum contest and participant levels for each sport. Additionally, every school must offer two team sports per gender, with both genders represented in each playing season.
Funding and financial aid function differently in Division III than other division models. Each sport features student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability, and every athletic department is staffed and funded like any other department in that institution