There are 120 schools competing in the FBS (formerly Division I-A), the highest level in the collegiate ranks. This includes the big programs like Michigan, Ohio State, LSU, USC and Notre Dame.

FBS programs are allowed 85 scholarships on its roster at any given time, and generally can sign up to 25 players per year.

All 85 scholarships are full rides. There are no partial scholarships given in FBS football.

NCAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION (FCS)

There are 125 schools competing in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA).  This includes all of the Ivy League schools and FCS powers like Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, North Dakota State and Northern Iowa.

FCS schools have 63 scholarships to be distributed, and up to 30 incoming players each year can be given aid.

Scholarships at FCS schools can be full or partial rides. The 63 grants can be divided up in any way, but no more than 85 players can be put on scholarship.

NCAA DIVISION II

There are 156 schools competing in NCAA Division II. Some of the more well-known Division II football programs include Northwest Missouri State, Valdosta State and Grand Valley State.

Division II programs have 36 scholarships to be distributed, though some conferences don’t allow their schools to have that many.

Football scholarships at Division-II institutions can be divided among as many players as a program wishes. Most Division-II players are on partial scholarships.

NCAA DIVISION III

There are 239 schools playing Division III football.  This includes powerhouse Mount Union (Ohio), which has won several national championships.

There are no athletic scholarships in Division III athletics.

Though there’s no chance of getting a football scholarship at a Division III school, it is possible to receive an academic scholarship or a need-based grant that can help financially while you play football.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS (NAIA)

There are 92 schools that play football in the NAIA. The powerhouse NAIA programs include Carroll College (MT) and Georgetown (KY)

NAIA football programs are permitted 24 scholarships to be spread out in any way.

Partial scholarships are common. Strong students meeting a certain academic criteria can receive aid without it counting toward the 24 scholarship limit.

College-bound student-athletes who want to practice, compete and receive athletically related financial aid during their first year at a Division I or II school need to meet the following requirements:

• Graduate from high school.
• Complete a minimum of 16 core courses for Division I or 14 core courses for Division II. After August 1, 2013, student-athletes who wish to compete at Division II institutions must complete 16 core courses.
• Earn a minimum required grade-point average in core courses.
• Earn a qualifying test score on either the ACT or SAT.
• Request final amateurism certification from the NCAA Eligibility Center.

For Division I student-athletes who will enroll in August 2016 and later, the requirements to compete in the first year will change. In addition to the above standards, prospects must:

• Earn at least a 2.3 grade-point average in core courses.
• Meet an increased sliding-scale standard (for example, an SAT score of 1,000 requires a 2.5 high school core course GPA)
• Successfully complete 10 of the 16 total required core courses before the start of their senior year in high school. Seven of the 10 courses must be successfully completed in English, math and science.

Prospects that earn at least a 2.0 GPA but not a 2.3 GPA and meet the current sliding scale standard (for example, an SAT score of 1,000 requires a 2.025 high school core course GPA) will be eligible for practice in the first term and athletically related financial aid the entire year, but not competition. Freshmen who are academically successful in the first term will earn the ability to continue to practice for the remainder of the year.

Division III college and universities set their own admission standards. The NCAA does not set initial eligibility requirements in Division III.

It’s important for every college football prospect (and their parents) to understand the rules of compliance for the college recruiting process.

Here’s a detailed look at some key dates, and what/when college coaches can spend valuable time communicating with you.

Football Division I Guidelines

Freshman & Sophomore Year:

• Recruiting materials: Permissible to receive camps brochures and questionnaires
• Telephone Calls: You may make unlimited calls to college coaches. College coaches cannot call or text you.
• Off-campus contact: No off-campus visits with coaches
• Official visits: No official visits to schools until senior year
• Unofficial visits: Unlimited unofficial visits to schools

Junior Year:

• Recruiting materials: A prospect may begin receiving recruiting materials September 1st of junior year
• Telephone Calls: Coaches may call a prospect one-time between April 15 – May 31.  Prospect may make unlimited calls to coaches.
• Off-campus contact: No off-campus visits with coaches
• Official visits: No official visits to schools until senior year
• Unofficial visits: Unlimited unofficial visits to schools are allowed

Senior Year:

• Recruiting materials: Recruiting materials are allowed.
• Telephone calls: On September 1 college coaches may begin to call you once per week. You may make unlimited calls to coaches.
• Text messages: College coaches are not allowed to send text messages to prospects.
• Off-campus contact: Starring November 25th off-campus contact is allowed. Maximum of six contacts.
• Official visits: Official visits paid for by schools allowed following first day of classes; 1 official visit allowed per school.
• Maximum Official visits: Maximum of five official visits to DI and DII.
• Unofficial visits: Unlimited unofficial visits to schools are allowed
• Evaluations and contacts: Up to six evaluations and contacts during senior year adhering to strict calendar dates of quiet, dead, evaluation and contact periods; limit to three evaluations during academic year
• Off-campus evaluation: One off-campus evaluation allowed during September, October and November
• Off-campus visits by coaches: No more than six

Football Division II Guidelines

• Recruiting materials:  On September 1 of junior year coaches may begin sending recruiting materials to student-athletes.
• Telephone Calls: Staring June 15 after junior year coaches may call you once per week. Prospects may make unlimited calls to coaches.
• Off-campus contact: June 15 after junior year coaches are allowed up to three off-campus contacts
• Unofficial visits: Student-athletes are allowed unlimited unofficial visits to schools.
• Official visits: Official visits paid for by schools allowed following first day of classes; 1 official visit allowed per school.
• Maximum Official visits: Maximum of five official visits to DI and DII.

Football Division III Guidelines

• Recruiting materials: You may receive printed materials from coaches and schools at any time.
• Telephone calls: No limit to calls from coaches or the time they are placed. Prospect may make unlimited calls to coaches.
• Off-campus contact: Coaches may contact you off-campus after your junior year.
• Unofficial visits: Student-athletes may make unlimited unofficial visits to schools
• Official visits: Official visits paid for by schools allowed following first day of classes of senior year. 1 official visit allowed per school.
• Off-campus evaluation: There are no restrictions on the number of contacts and evaluations.

What are the differences?   The differences between the divisions mostly depend on:

The number of sports a school has overall.

How many sports are available for men and women.

How many athletes, or teams, the school has in each sport.

The number of contests it plays against schools in the same division.

Division I schools must:

• Offer at least seven sports for men and seven sports for women, or six for men and eight for women.
• Offer two team sports for each gender.
• Have both male and female teams or participants for each sport’s playing season.
• Offer a certain number of financial aid “awards” to student-athletes, without going over the maximum amount allowed.
• Play at least the minimum amount of contests against Division I opponents.
• Meet attendance requirements for Football and Basketball.

Division II schools must:

• Offer at least five sports for men and five sports for women, or four sports for men and six for women.
• Offer two team sports for each gender.
• Have both male and female teams or participants for each sport’s playing season.
• Have at least the minimum number of contests and participants for each sport.

Division III schools must:

• Offer at least five sports for men and five sports for women.
• Offer two team sports for each gender.
• Have both male and female teams or participants for each sport’s playing season.
• Student-athlete’s are not eligible for sports related financial aid.

The National Letter of Intent is voluntary and not required for a student-athlete to receive financial aid or participate in sports.

Signing an National Letter of Intent ends the recruiting process since participating schools are prohibited from recruiting student-athletes who have already signed letters with other participating schools.

A student-athlete who has signed a National Letter of Intent may request a release from his or her contract with the school. If a student-athlete signs a National Letter of Intent with one school but attends a different school, he or she will lose one full year of eligibility and must complete a full academic year at their new school before being eligible to compete.

High School players cannot sign a National Letter of Intent until the first Wednesday in February of each year.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE ABOUT THE NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT

Here’s the skinny on the scholarship availability at all levels of college play.

Divison I-A

Division I-A schools are all the biggies. You know, the teams you see playing on TV every weekend throughout the fall. Your favorite team is probably a Division I school. There are 120 of these “major” football programs.

Division I-A football operates on the 85/25 rule. What does this mean? Well, every Division I football program is allowed to have 85 total players on athletic scholarships, but they can only offer a maximum of 25 scholarships each year.

NCAA Division I-A football is a “headcount sport” – meaning that the football program has to offer you a full-ride athletic grant-in-aid. This is versus “equivalency sports” where the coach can offer a partial athletic grant-in-aid.

How tough is it to earn one of these “full-ride” scholarships?

Try less than 1% of high school football players! That’s right. Less than 1% of graduating seniors actually earn a full-ride football scholarship to a Divison I-A school. Here’s some simple math:

There are about 275,000 high school senior football players each year.

There are 3,000 full-ride football scholarships available each year at Division I-A (25 per school). But, please keep in mind that just about every Division I-A school reserves two or three of these scholarships each year for players “other than high school players.” Some schools may bring a couple Junior College guys in each year, or some schools may reserve a few scholarships for walk-ons who have been in the program for a few years – and they have earned a scholarship through their efforts.

That leaves around 2,600 Division I-A football scholarships available for graduating seniors on an annual basis. This equates to a little less that 1% of players, nationwide, who will actually earn a full-ride football scholarship at a major college.

Division I-AA

By now everyone has heard of Appalachian State, right? There the school that, a few years ago, upset (beat up) the Michigan Wolverines on the opening weekend of college football. And it was at the big house in Ann Arbor to boot.

Well, Appalachian State is a great example of a Division I-AA football program. Most Division I-AA schools are widely known on a regional basis, but it’s tough for most casual fans to name more than a handful of Division I-AA schools on a national basis.

Division I-AA football operates on the 63/25 rule. What does this mean? Well, every Division I-AA football program has a total of 63 football scholarships available, but they can only offer a maximum of 25 scholarships each year.

Division I-AA football is considered an “equivalency sport.” This is versus Division I-A football being a headcount sport.  Because Division I-AA football is an equivalency sport the football program can offer you either a “full-ride” athletic grant-in-aid, or they can offer you some sort of a “partial” athletic grant-in-aid.

As an example, let’s say the total cost of tuition, fees, books, room & board at a Division I-AA school is $30,000. The football program decides to offer you a $10,000 athletic grant-in-aid, or a 30% scholarship. At Divsion I-AA you’ll see several players on a full-ride but, also, you’ll see several players on partial scholarships.

Keep in mind, if you earn a partial athletic grant-in-aid at a Division I-AA school, you will also be eligible to receive other forms of aid. Division I-AA schools can help you with academic scholarships, university grants & tuition or fee waivers. Because you can earn these added monies (all free) you can essentially get all of your education paid for at the Division I-AA level.

I have seen high school player after high school player lose out on Division I-AA offers because of the simple fact that they think they are a true DI guy. If you are serious about playing college football, and you have not received a DI offer by the start of your senior football season, then you need to seriously take a look at DI-AA, or lower. That’s the truth!

Division II

Division II football programs have a total of 36 football scholarships available.

Just like Division I-AA football, Division II is considered an “equivalency sport.” Because Division II football is an equivalency sport the football program can offer you either a “full-ride” athletic grant-in-aid, or they can offer you some sort of a “partial” athletic grant-in-aid.

And, also, just like Division I-AA football, if you earn a partial athletic grant-in-aid at a Division II school, you will also be eligible to receive other forms of aid. Division II schools can help you with academic scholarships, university grants & tuition or fee waivers. Because you can earn these added monies (all free) you can essentially get all of your education paid for at the Division II level.

Grades will be a key driver at the Division II level for the simple fact that if a coach is going to attract you to his school then the school will probably need to come up with an attractive scholarship package for you and your parents to consider. It is not unusual, at the DII level, for a player to actually earn more in academic/university grants than they would with athletic grants-in-aid.

Bottom line with Division II football is this. Most high school players, naturally, would love to get the chance to play at a big-time school. If you are not one of the 1% of the players who are being heavily recruited by the start of your senior season then you probably need to add DII schools to your list. DII coaches would love to hear from you and, don’t you think you would have a heck of a lot more fun actually “playing” at a lower level, versus riding the pine at another school – or just never getting a chance to even play?  DII should be a huge consideration!

“How do I know if a football coach is serious about me?”

Seniors (class of 2013) pay close attention; juniors & sophomores (class of 2014 & 2015) take note.

In most instances high school football players pretty much think they are being seriously recruited when they start receiving the weekly letters from a college football coach. Don’t be fooled here. Most college football programs send out letters to 3000-5000 high school football prospects each year. That’s the truth. It’s marketing 101 at it’s best.

The same holds true with emails. College football recruiting offices have evolved into the techno-age and it’s easy for an administrative assistant in the football office to push a few buttons and send out thousands upon thousands of emails to high school players letting them know “you are one of the top guys we are looking at.”  What?  Top guy?  They haven’t even evaluated most players at this point. Don’t be fooled.

Oh, and don’t forget about the football camp invitations you receive from a multitude of colleges and universities. Hey, let’s face it, college football camps are big, big business. In fact it’s so big at some universities that they have a whole department dedicated to nothing but camps. That’s the truth.  The college football camp scene is an easy way for a college football coach to get you on campus (at the expense of Mom & Dad of course) and make you feel like a big-shot for a day or two. Recently I was speaking to a Dad on the phone and he told me how disappointed he was with a football camp his son went to at a prominent Division I school. Turns out that this “elite camp” had over 800 players in attendance, and his son was one of 50 wide-receivers. In two days the football was thrown to his son a grand total of three times. Ouch!  Not only did dad cough up $295 for the camp, his son didn’t even get a chance to make any kind of impression on the college coaching staff. Ouch again! Like I said, camps are a huge revenue source for schools and every year players across the country are normally led to believe they stand some chance of receiving a football scholarship if they go to these events. If you’re serious about these camps then it will pay to learn more about the landscape of what they are all about.

So, how do you know if you are being seriously recruited?

Here’s the top five ways you can tell if a coach wants to do any serious business with you in regards to recruiting you as a football player for their program:

• You are sent a LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) by a school. For the players who are offered a scholarship at the DI, DI-AA and DII levels you cannot sign the letter of intent until the first Wednesday in February of each year. This is the letter that means the most, and you’ll know it when you receive it. It usually comes Fed-Ex or via some other source of expedited mail.

• You have a WRITTEN OFFER (called “letter of offer”) from a school. For most Division I prospects this happens usually in the 2^nd semester of the junior year. This offer is non-binding and can be withdrawn at anytime, for any reason.

• You have a VERBAL OFFER from a school. This is usually done via the phone, or in person, during an evaluation period. For most of the players around the nation who are waiting for a Division I offer this usually happens very early in the junior year. At the latest during the summer before your senior year.

• You receive an offer for an “OFFICIAL VISIT” from a school. This is a visit that is entirely funded by the university. Players are allowed to be on campus for 48 hours. Do not mistake this for an “unofficial visit” where a school invites you and your parents to visit the campus (at your cost again), and they include 3 tickets to see a game, and perhaps visit with the coaches and tour the locker room.  Hundreds upon hundreds of players receive these “sales type” letters/visits and it all sounds good but, to tell you the truth, it’s a way for coaches to get you on campus for free, and then you feel good when you go back home and tell all of your friends/neighbors that they are recruiting you. Just keep in mind that if they are serious about you they (the coach) will offer you an official visit. He’s got plenty of them to dish out.

• You get “at least” TWO PHONE CALLS FROM THE COACHING STAFF at a particular school. If you get zero, or just one phone call from a school then you are not an official recruit. Per NCAA rules college coaches need to trigger a 2^nd phone call to you (or your parents) or you can assume that you are just another prospect and should probably look elsewhere. These calls should start in the spring (May) of your junior year.

Those are the key indicators. If you do not have any of this activity going on then it’s pretty safe to say that you are not a Division I prospect, or the college coaches just do not know about you yet (and you need to seriously do something about that).

However, understanding the key recruiting time periods for football, and knowing kinda what to expect – and when – can really help in soothing over any anxiety you may have.

As part of the on-going educational service provided by Prep Football America we are always anxious to pass along any information that will help you – the recruit – be prepared for what is to come.  After all, you only go through the recruiting process one time, and we want you to make the most of it.

To start, I wanted to take some time to explain the four key recruiting time periods that all college football coaches must adhere to during the recruiting process.  If you are already aware of these time periods then you are very well-versed. But, if not, I’m confident this information will help explain some things you may have heard about.

EVALUATION PERIOD

The Evaluation Period is a block of the official NCAA recruiting calendar during which coaches and other authorized staffers are allowed to assess the athletic and academic ability of prospective student-athletes, but cannot conduct off-campus visits. During the school year, in-person evaluations are limited to school-related events — games, practices, tournaments and the like.

CONTACT PERIOD

A Contact Period is a range of dates on the official NCAA recruiting calendar during which coaches are permitted to conduct in-person, off-campus evaluations and contacts. The old-school stereotype of “coach sitting down on sofa, drinking lemonade with mom and dad and discussing your son’s college plans” is a meeting that would have to happen during a contact period.

DEAD PERIOD

A Dead Period is a time when nearly all recruiting activity is temporarily shut down. During a dead period, coaches cannot: Make in-person recruiting contacts; Conduct in-person evaluations — on or off-campus; Schedule official campus visits; Allow unofficial campus visits; Offer complimentary tickets to games. The only permissible communications during a dead period are phone calls (limited by NCAA regulations to one call per week) and correspondence.

QUIET PERIOD

The Quiet Period is an NCAA-mandated period of the recruiting calendar where in-person recruiting activity is limited to contact on the college campus only, as part of an official or unofficial recruiting visit.