Schools That Offer Football Scholarships

Here is a brief overview of the different NCAA divisions that offer college football scholarships.

NCAA Programs: (National Collegiate Athletic Association)

Division I – These are the largest schools, which are further broken down into FBS  (Football Bowl Subdivision or Division I-A) and FCS (Football Championship Subdivision or Division I-AA.   The FBS plays in the popular bowl games while the FCS provides an end of the season playoff to determine the overall champion.

This top echelon of NCAA football play is also called Div I, D-I, Div 1, D-1, and Division 1.  All terms literally mean the same thing.

There are 120 Division I-A schools.  The Division I-A offers 85 full ride scholarships per year, but there can also be Walk-Ons at this level.  Walk-Ons don’t receive athletic scholarships, but could receive other types of financial aid.

There are  118 Division I-AA schools and they offer 63 full ride football scholarships per year, and they also can have Walk-Ons.

There are approximately 14,146 student athletes at the Division I-A participating, while there are 11,958 participating in the NCAA Division I-AA. Here is a list of NCAA Division I schools:

Division II- There are 157 schools listed as Division II.  There are 36 full ride scholarships available for each school, and these scholarships can be spread out among many players per the coaches discretion.

As with the Division I schools, you will also see Div-II, Div 2, Division 2, D-2, D2, D-II, Div2.  They all mean virtually the same thing.

There are 15, 655 student athletes that participate at the NCAA Division II level in football. Here is a list of Division II Football schools:

Division III –There are 239 schools classified as NCAA Division III for college football.  Athletic scholarship packages are not offered in Division III.  23,120 student athletes participate in this division.

Like Division I and Division II, this division can be designated by Div III, Div 3, Div-III, D-3, D3, and Division 3.  All mean exactly the same thing.

Here is a list of NCAA Division III Football Schools:

NCAA football schools  comprise three divisions of NCAA football scholarships.

Here is a brief overview of the NAIA schools:

NAIA Programs (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)

There are 91 schools with the designation of NAIA football school. NAIA schools are not governed by the NCAA but are governed by the NAIA.

These school offer 24 football scholarships per year, which can be spread out as the coach sees fit.

Some 5,556 student athletes participate in NAIA collegiate football.

Here is a list of NAIA Schools:

Here is a brief overview of the NJCAA schools.

NJCAA Programs (National Junior College Athletic Association)

There are 69 NJCAA or sometimes called JUCO schools.  JUCO schools are not governed by the NCAA but are governed by the NJCAA.

The number of football scholarships vary from school to school, and they too can be spread among players as the discretion of the coaches.  JUCO schools are not governed by the NCAA

There are about 5,031 student athletes participating in NJCAA football each year.

Here is a list of JUCO schools: