For an institution to be in Division I of the
NCAA they must sponsor at least seven sports for men and seven sports for women (or six for men and eight for women) with two
team sports for each gender. There must be a sport for each gender in each of the playing seasons (Fall, Winter, and Spring). There are minimum and maximum amounts of financial aid that needs to be awarded for Division I athletic programs.
For all sports there are scheduling criteria. All sports, excluding
football and
basketball, must meet 100% of the minimum number of contests against Division I opponents, half the contests over the minimum must also be against Division I opponents.
For
basketball all but two games must be against Division I teams. 1/3 of all Men's basketball games must be held at home.
Schools with football programs are further broken down into I-A, I-AA, and I-AAA schools. To be classified I-A a school must meet minimum attendance requirements: 17,000 people in attendance per home game OR 20,000 average of all football games in the last four years or, 30,000 permanent seats in their
stadium and average 17,000 per home game or 20,000 average of all football games in the last four years, OR, be in a member conference in which at least six conference members sponsor footbal or more than half of football schools meet attenance criterion. (Not all of that attendence criteria made sense to me, so I copied it directly from the NCAA web page,
www.ncaa.org.)
Division I Conferences:
Look here for Independent school:
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