The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a
nonprofit association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the
athletic programs of many
colleges and
universitiesin the
United States and
Canada. It is headquartered in
Indianapolis,
Indiana.
In August 1973, the current three-division setup of
Division I,
Division II, and
Division III was adopted by the NCAA membership in a special convention. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer
scholarships to
athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I
football was further divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently the term "Division I-AAA" was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, but that term is no longer officially used by the NCAA.
[3] In 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).