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There are 722 four year colleges and universities with football teams associated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). (This total does not include the Junior College football teams.) With the exception of NCAA Division 1A, each grouping crowns a National Champion through a playoff system. The NCAA football teams are divided into four groups: Division I-A, Division I-AA, Division II and Division III.

NCAA Division I teams are classified as Division I-A or I-AA. The Division I-A football schools are the larger schools. Division I-A teams have to meet minimum sporting event attendance requirements. Division I-AA teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Division I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, and there are maximum financial aid awards for each sport that a Division I school cannot exceed.
There are 121 NCAA Division 1A football teams in 2007.There are 120 NCAA Division 1AA football teams in 2005.

NCAA Division II teams: Division II teams play at least 50% of their games against Division II or I-A or I-AA opponents. They do not have attendance requirements for football. Division II teams usually feature a number of local or in-state student-athletes. Many Division II student-athletes pay for school through a combination of scholarship money, grants, student loans and employment earnings. Division II athletics programs are financed in the institution's budget like other academic departments on campus.

There are 157 NCAA Division II football teams in 2005. NCAA Division III teams: Division III athletics features student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability and athletic departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university.
There are 231 NCAA Division III football teams in 2005.

NAIA Teams: There are 95 NAIA football teams. The NAIA has 50,000 student-athletes participating at nearly 300 member colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. Divided into 14 regions, the NAIA offers 23 championships in 13 sports.
Check out the links below for more information on each of the above groupings of college football.


DIVISION 1A REQUIREMENTS

1A SCHOOLS

DIVISION 1AA REQUIREMENTS

1AA SCHOOLS

DIVISION 2 REQUIREMENTS

D-2 SCHOOLS

DIVISION 3 REQUIREMENTS

D-3 SCHOOLS

NAIA REQUIREMENTS

NAIA SCHOOLS