NCAA Division I:

An NCAA DI institution must offer seven sports for both men and women (or six for men and eight for women) with a minimum of two team sports for each gender. Each gender must participate in all three sporting seasons sponsored by the NCAA. In addition, NCAA DI American Football programs must meet minimum attendance requirements (approx 20,000 fans per game). Each NCAA DI institution must meet the minimum athletic scholarships for each sponsored sport.

NCAA Division II:

NCAA DII institutions must offer five sports for both men and women (of four for men and six for women) with a minimum of two team sports for each gender. Each gender must participate in all three sporting seasons sponsored by the NCAA. Each sport has maximum scholarship opportunities per sport, but no minimum (which are fewer than NCAA DI programs) and most student athletes create a financial aid package aid package with a combination of athletic scholarship, academic awards, and other related awards and grants. NCAA DII institutions tend to play in regionalized conferences and recruit more local prospects within the US, but often recruit aggressively overseas as well.

NCAA Division III:

NCAA DIII institutions must offer five sports for both men and women (or four for men and six for women) with a minimum of two team sports for each gender. Each gender must participate in all three sporting seasons sponsored by the NCAA. Student athletes do not receive athletically related financial aid with the emphasis being placed on the student participation. In other words, the student athlete’s experience is the primary focus of the institutions athletics department and financial assistance for international students is often available.

While the philosophy of NCAA DIII athletics does not include awarding athletically related scholarships, a coach that is recruiting you may be able to direct you to appropriate academic and private scholarships within the institution that can help you and your parents pay for educational expenses.

It is also worth noting that there is no ‘promotion’ or ‘relegation’ between any of the divisions.