NCAA making it more expensive to move to the FBS

By Steven J. Gaither

Posted on October 4, 2023

Any HBCU looking to move up from the FCS to the FBS will have to pony up a lot more money moving forward.

The NCAA Division I Council has made several changes to the requirements needed to move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The new rules eliminate attendance requirements at FBS schools, effective immediately. But it also increases the fee to move up from $5,000 to $5 million — effective immediately. 

The NCAA will require all FBS programs to provide 90 percent of the total number of allowable scholarships over a two-year rolling period across 16 sports, including football. FBS schools will also be required to fund 210 scholarships each year, amounting to no less than $6 million annually (effective August 2027).

There are currently 21 HBCU football programs in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision — 12 programs in the SWAC, six in the MEAC, two in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) and Tennesseee State in the Ohio Valley Conference. 

Tennessee State was originally a member of Division I-A, the current FBS, after the initial D1 split in the late 1970s. It later transitioned to Division I-AA and joined its current conference. Florida A&M spent one season transitioning as a Division I-A independent before scrapping the idea. 

NCAA making it more expensive to move to the FBS