This is alist of colleges and universities that aremembers ofDivision I, the highest level of competition sponsored by theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Currently, there are 365 institutions classified as Division I (including those in the process of transitioning from other divisions), making it the second largest division by school count in the NCAA.[1] 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. All colleges and universities on this list are located in theUnited States; all states (exceptAlaska) plus theDistrict of Columbia are represented by full members. Information in this list represents the current 2025–26 seasons.
These schools are full members of Division I, meaning they either have finished the process of joining Division I or were members of its predecessor, theUniversity Division.
^abcdefghAbilene Christian, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Little Rock, North Alabama, Tarleton State, UT Arlington, and West Georgia will join theUnited Athletic Conference in all sports beginning in 2026
^abcdefgBoise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, Texas State, and Utah State will join the Pac-12 Conference in 2026. Gonzaga is the only non-football school in this group.
^abcCal Baptist, Sacramento State, and Utah Valley will join the Big West Conference in 2026.
^Louisiana Tech will join the Sun Belt Conference by no later than 2027.
^Northern Illinois will join the Horizon League in 2026. Its affiliation for football starting in 2026–27 will be with the Mountain West Conference.
^Saint Francis will begin a transition toNCAA Division III following the 2025–26 athletic season.[4]
^abSouthern Utah and Utah Tech will join the Big Sky Conference in 2026.
^Tennessee Tech will join the Southern Conference in 2026.
^abcHawaiʻi, UC Davis, and UTEP will join the Mountain West Conference in 2026.
^UC San Diego will join the West Coast Conference in 2027.
^Denver will join the West Coast Conference in 2026.
Football
^abcdefghijSince the 2023 season, most football-sponsoring members of the Atlantic Sun Conference and Western Athletic Conference play that sport in theUnited Athletic Conference (UAC), a football-only merger of the two all-sports conferences. Exceptions:
Bellarmine playssprint football, a non-NCAA variant with severe limits on player weight.
^While Bellarmine remains non-football by NCAA criteria, it began playingsprint football, a weight-restricted form of American football governed outside the NCAA, in 2022.
^abcdThe America East Conference does not sponsor football. As of the 2024 season, its four football-sponsoring schools (Albany, Bryant, Maine, and New Hampshire) play inCAA Football, the legally separate football league administered by the all-sports Coastal Athletic Association.
^abcdThe Big East Conference does not sponsor football. Its football-sponsoring schools are aligned as follows:
Butler plays in the Pioneer Football League.
Georgetown plays in the Patriot League.
UConn plays as an FBS independent.
Villanova plays in CAA Football.
^abcThe Big West Conference does not sponsor football. Its football-playing members are aligned as follows:
Cal Poly and UC Davis play in the Big Sky Conference. UC Davis will continue to play Big Sky football after otherwise leaving for the Mountain West Conference in 2026.
Hawaiʻi plays in the Mountain West Conference, which it will fully join in 2026.
^abcdefghThe Coastal Athletic Association's football league, branded asCAA Football, is a legally separate entity from the all-sports CAA, though both share the same administration.
^abcdefThe Atlantic 10 Conference does not sponsor football. Its football-playing members are aligned as follows:
Davidson and Dayton play in the Pioneer Football League.
Duquesne plays in the Northeast Conference.
Fordham and Richmond play in the Patriot League.
Rhode Island plays in CAA Football.
^abcdefgThe Missouri Valley Conference does not sponsor football. Its football-playing schools are aligned as follows:
Drake and Valparaiso play in the Pioneer Football League.
Illinois State, Indiana State, Murray State, Northern Iowa, and Southern Illinois play in theMissouri Valley Football Conference, a legally separate entity from the MVC.
^abcThe MAAC does not sponsor football. Its football-sponsoring schools are aligned as follows:
Marist plays in the Pioneer Football League.
Merrimack and Sacred Heart play as FCS independents.
^abMorehead State and Presbyterian play football in the Pioneer Football League instead of the OVC–Big South alliance.
^abcdeThe Summit League does not sponsor football. As of the 2024 season, its football-playing members are aligned as follows:
North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and South Dakota State play in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
St. Thomas plays in the Pioneer Football League.
^abThe Horizon League does not sponsor football. The conference's only football-sponsoring schools, Robert Morris and Youngstown State, respectively play that sport in the Northeast Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference.
^abArmy and Navy football currently play in the American Athletic Conference.
^Notre Dame football plays as an FBS independent, although it has an extensive cross-scheduling agreement with the ACC in that sport.
^The West Coast Conference does not sponsor football. San Diego, the conference's only football school, plays in thePioneer Football League.
Locations
^Alcorn State has a Lorman mailing address, but is in an unincorporated area ofClaiborne County that is designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as Alcorn State, Mississippi.
^Arizona State has four physical campuses in thePhoenix area. The overall and athletic administration, as well as the vast majority of the on-campus enrollment, are at the Tempe campus.
^Chestnut Hill, home to the main Boston College campus, exists as a village and postal entity, but is not a municipal entity. The main campus lies in the city ofNewton, and athletic facilities are scattered among three campuses, two in Newton and the other within theBoston city limits.
^The FGCU campus has a Fort Myers mailing address, but is in unincorporatedLee County.
^The main George Mason campus has a Fairfax mailing address, but the U.S. Census Bureau treats it asGeorge Mason, Virginia, a census-designated place in unincorporatedFairfax County.
^While Harvard'soverall administration andundergraduate campus are in Cambridge, the athletic department offices and most athletic venues are within theBoston city limits and have a Boston mailing address.
^The KSU campus has a Kennesaw mailing address, but is in unincorporatedCobb County.
^Long Island University has two main campuses, both of which had separate athletic programs before 2019–20—LIU Brooklyn in the New York City borough of that name, andLIU Post in Brookville. The overall athletic administration is at Post, but multiple teams operate from each campus. All of LIU's current NCAA teams are open to undergraduates at both campuses who meet NCAA eligibility requirements.
^The Mount St. Mary's campus has an Emmitsburg mailing address, but lies in unincorporatedFrederick County.
^The main Oakland campus has a Rochester mailing address, but lies entirely within the separate cities ofAuburn Hills andRochester Hills.
^The Pepperdine campus has a Malibu mailing address, but is in unincorporatedLos Angeles County.
^The Rutgers campus is split between New Brunswick,East Brunswick, andPiscataway. The university administration is in New Brunswick; the athletic program offices and all athletic facilities are in Piscataway and have a Piscataway mailing address.
^Saint Joseph's campus is split by theboundary between Philadelphia andLower Merion Township. The entire campus has a Philadelphia mailing address.
^The SMU campus has a Dallas mailing address, but almost entirely lies withinUniversity Park, a separate city within the Dallas city limits.
^The Binghamton campus has a Binghamton mailing address, but mostly lies in the adjacent town ofVestal.
^The UB campus has a Buffalo mailing address, but mostly lies in the adjacent town ofAmherst.
^The entire Penn State campus is designated by the U.S. Postal Service as "University Park, Pennsylvania". It straddles the boundary betweenState College, which hosts the core of the academic campus, andCollege Township, where most athletic facilities are located.
^While UTRGV has multiple campuses withinits service area, its overall and athletic administration are at the Edinburg campus.
^Virtually all of the Air Force Academy, including thecadet area and all athletic venues, is outside the city limits ofColorado Springs. The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Postal Service respectively designate the Academy as "Air Force Academy" and "USAF Academy".
^The UCSB campus has a Santa Barbara mailing address, but lies in the nearby census-designated place ofIsla Vista.
^The main UCF campus has an Orlando mailing address, but is in unincorporatedOrange County.
^The university administration and most of the undergraduate campus are located in Urbana. The athletic department offices and most of the athletic venues are inChampaign and have a Champaign mailing address.
^The UMES campus has a Princess Anne mailing address, but lies in unincorporatedSomerset County.
^The U.S. Postal Service considers all unincorporated communities in theLas Vegas Valley, including Paradise, to have aLas Vegas address.
^While Southern Indiana has an Evansville mailing address, it is actually located outside of the Evansville city limits inPerry Township, a subdivision ofVanderburgh County that includes a small part of Evansville proper.
^The entire Virginia campus has a Charlottesville mailing address. The university straddles the boundary between Charlottesville andAlbemarle County, which encloses but does not include the city of Charlottesville.
^The campus has a Villanova mailing address; that community is a census-designated place that straddles the boundary betweenLower Merion andRadnor Townships.
^The Wright State campus has a Dayton mailing address but lies well to the east of the city limits inFairborn.
Naming conventions
^The university began the process of rebranding its athletic program as "Bakersfield" in the 2023–24 school year.[2] Most national media outlets use "Cal State Bakersfield", and the NCAA uses "CSU Bakersfield".
^Although all other athletic teams use the name "Beach", Long Beach baseball goes by the name "Dirtbags".
^While "Charleston" is the preferred description for the athletic program, it can also be referred to by the full school name or "Charleston (SC)" due to the existence of the University of Charleston, a Division II institution in West Virginia's state capital. However, the West Virginia school plays only one sport in Division I—men's volleyball, a sport not sponsored by the South Carolina school.
^National media outlets generally use "Florida Gulf Coast", but the school, NCAA, and ASUN all use "FGCU".
^While "Bulldogs" is the official nickname, the school widely uses "Zags" as an alternate nickname.
^While this is the legal school name, "Iowa State University" is used on many official school documents, such as diplomas.
^The university, Western Athletic Conference, and NCAA all use "Seattle U". National media typically omit the "U".
^While this is the school's preferred athletic identity, the OVC uses "Southeast Missouri", and the NCAA and national media use "Southeast Missouri State".
^While national sports media generally use "SIU Edwardsville", the school, the Ohio Valley Conference, and the NCAA all use "SIUE".
^While this is the legal name, "The University of Iowa" has been used for all official purposes since 1964.
^While this is the legal name, "University at Albany" is used in most non-formal contexts.
^While this is the legal name used on official documents such as diplomas, "Binghamton University" is used for all other purposes. The university actively discourages media use of the full name, or of any formulation in which "Binghamton" is preceded by "SUNY" (whether spelled out or abbreviated).
^While this is the legal name, "University at Buffalo" is used in all but the most formal contexts.
^While this is the legal name, "Stony Brook University" is used in all but the most formal contexts.
^The statute that added Stephen F. Austin (SFA) to theUniversity of Texas System specified the university's legal name as "Stephen F. Austin State University, a member of The University of Texas System". SFA continues to use its previous name, without the added phrase, for most purposes.
^The school uses "Tarleton" and "Tarleton State" interchangeably for sports purposes.
^While national sports media generally use "UT Rio Grande Valley", the school, the Southland Conference, and the NCAA all use "UTRGV".
^The Academy, Patriot League, and NCAA use "Army West Point"; national media use "Army".
^National media typically use "Louisiana–Monroe", but the school, the Sun Belt Conference, and the NCAA all primarily use "ULM".
^The university uses "Massachusetts" and "UMass" interchangeably. The NCAA uses "Massachusetts", while national media typically use "UMass".
^While this is the legal name, it is only used in documents internal to theUniversity of Missouri System. For all other formal purposes, "University of Missouri" is used.
^National media outlets generally use "UNC Wilmington", but the school, NCAA, and CAA all use "UNCW".
^This is the school's preferred usage, although national media will generally use "South Carolina Upstate".
^This is the school's preferred athletic usage, and is generally used by national media. The NCAA, however, uses "Southern California" (a use accepted by the athletic program) because "USC" can also refer to the University of South Carolina.
^While national media typically use "Incarnate Word", the school generally uses "UIW", with the NCAA using the latter.
Other
^abBoth Delaware and Delaware State are legally chartered as "privately governed, state-assisted" institutions. This status is similar to that of New York State'sstatutory colleges, most of which are housed at Cornell University, or institutions in Pennsylvania'sCommonwealth System of Higher Education.
^abThe last remaining members of the Pac-12, Oregon State and Washington State, are housing most of their non-football sports in theWest Coast Conference through the 2025–26 school year.
^abcAs members of theCommonwealth System of Higher Education, Penn State, Pitt, and Temple are privately governed, but receive financial support from the Pennsylvania state government.
These schools are at some point in the process of joining Division I, but as of January 2025, have not yet finished the process and thus aren't yet full members. Unless stated otherwise, all transitions begin and end on July 1 of a given year.
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. Institutions already in the reclassification process may apply the new, shorter reclassification period, if they meet the new academic and scholarship requirements.[5] The dates of full membership shown in the table below assume the reclassifying institutions will elect to apply the new, shorter reclassification period and will qualify to do so.
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. Three institutions, all Division II members, fielded teams in a Division I sport for the first time in the 2025–26 school year.Jamestown,UC Merced, and [[Southwest Baptist University|Southwest Baptist]] added men's volleyball; UC Merced also added men's and women's polo.
These schools that are members of other divisions, or of theNAIA orNJCAA, have announced their intentions to field at least one team at the Division I level sometime after the 2025–26 school year. An NJCAA member listed here has either started transitions to the NCAA or has announced plans to do so.
Years of joining reflect calendar years. For schools that will play only spring sports at the D-I level, the calendar year of joining is the year before the first season of competition.
This list includes institutions that sponsored athletic programs that competed at the highest level in theNCAA (Division I 1973–present, University Division 1957–1973). Schools that were deemed major schools in athletics before 1957 are not included in this list.
^Formerly known asAugusta State University until January 2013, when it merged with another Augusta institution (Georgia Health Sciences University) to create Georgia Regents University. At the time of the merger, only GRU (as Augusta State) had an athletic program, and GRU's sports teams continued to compete as Augusta State through the end of the 2012–13 school year. The school changed its name again to the currentAugusta University in 2015.
^Currently competes inDivision I in men's and women's golf.
^After the 2019–20 season,Long Island University merged the athletic programs of its two campuses—the Division ILIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and Division IILIU Post Pioneers—into a single athletic program, theLIU Sharks. The Sharks inherited the athletic legacy of the Brooklyn campus, including its Division I membership, and continues to compete in Division I under the unified LIU name.
h Alabama A&M, Georgia, and South Carolina State use the name Lady Bulldogs for their women's teams.
i Alabama State and Delaware State use the name Lady Hornets for their women's teams.
j Alcorn State uses the name Lady Braves for its women's teams.
k Arkansas–Pine Bluff uses the name Golden Lady Lions for its women's teams.
m Centenary uses the name Ladies for its women's teams.
n Central Arkansas uses the name Sugar Bears for its women's teams.
o Central Missouri uses the name Jennies for its women's teams.
p Central State uses the name Lady Marauders for its women's teams.
q Hampton use the name Lady Pirates for their women's teams.
r Fayetteville State uses the name Lady Broncos for its women's teams.
s Florida A&M uses the name Lady Rattlers for its women's teams.
u Georgia Southern and Southern Miss use the name Lady Eagles for their women's teams.
v Grambling, Jackson State, Tennessee State, and Texas Southern use the name Lady Tigers for their women's teams, while LSU uses it for select women's teams.
w Hawaiʻi uses the name Rainbow Wāhine for its women's teams. The women's beach volleyball team, while officially Rainbow Wāhine, more commonly uses BeachBows.
x Howard uses the name Lady Bison for its women's teams.
y Johnson C. Smith uses the name Lady Golden Bulls for its women's teams.
aa Kentucky State uses the name Thorobrettes for its women's teams.
ab Lamar uses the name Lady Cardinals for its women's teams.
ac Liberty uses the name Lady Flames for its women's teams.
ad Lipscomb uses the name Lady Bisons for its women's teams.
ae Louisiana Tech uses the name Lady Techsters for its women's teams.
af Manhattan uses the name Lady Jaspers for its women's teams.
ah McNeese, Oklahoma State, and Wyoming use the name Cowgirls for their women's teams.
ai Mississippi Valley State uses the name Devilettes for its women's teams.
aj Morgan State uses the name Lady Bears for their women's teams, while Missouri State uses it forits women's basketball team. Missouri State uses Beach Bears for its women's beach volleyball team.
