What determines whether a college is NCAA Division I or NCAA Division II or Division III?

What determines whether a college is NCAA Division I or NCAA Division II or Division III?

◦DI colleges are required to sponsor a minimum of 7 sports for men and women or 6 for men and 8 for women. Their primary recruiting focus is on the top 1-2% of the athletes in the top 5 – 6 states that produce the best athletes in the sport their recruiting. DI schools must offer a minimum number of financial aid awards to student-athletes without exceeding the cap established to ensure fair competition. Every DI athletic program also requires a minimum participation commitment which varies by sport, as well as a minimum paid attendance at home games in sports such as football.
◦DII colleges are required to sponsor a minimum of 5 sports for men and women or 4 for men and 6 for women. DII schools have a greater emphasis on providing a comprehensive program of learning and development in a more personal setting. Since their athletics programs a financed by the institution budget like other academic departments they tend to have a smaller recruiting budget, which limits coaches to a recruiting area of 500-600 miles from campus. Every DII school has a maximum number of scholarships awards to offer for each sport which can’t be exceeded. As a result few DII athletes receive a full scholarship and fund their tuition through a combination of methods including – scholarship money, grants, financial aid and employment.
◦DIII colleges are required to sponsor a minimum of 5 sports for men and women with a minimum participation and contents requirements for each sport. It is important to recognize that financial aid and funding differ at the DIII school versus DI and DII. Student athletes who play their sport at the DIII level do not receive financial aid related to their athletic ability. This is a result of their emphasis on the impact of athletics on the players not the spectators, allowing the primary focus to be on academics. Since athletics are funded like any other academic department their recruiting budget is much lower. DIII schools offer financial aid packages in the form of academic scholarships, leadership scholarships, merit-based scholarships, grant money and needs based financial aid.

DrSoccer wrote:◦DI colleges are required to sponsor a minimum of 7 sports for men and women or 6 for men and 8 for women. Their primary recruiting focus is on the top 1-2% of the athletes in the top 5 – 6 states that produce the best athletes in the sport their recruiting. DI schools must offer a minimum number of financial aid awards to student-athletes without exceeding the cap established to ensure fair competition. Every DI athletic program also requires a minimum participation commitment which varies by sport, as well as a minimum paid attendance at home games in sports such as football.
◦DII colleges are required to sponsor a minimum of 5 sports for men and women or 4 for men and 6 for women. DII schools have a greater emphasis on providing a comprehensive program of learning and development in a more personal setting. Since their athletics programs a financed by the institution budget like other academic departments they tend to have a smaller recruiting budget, which limits coaches to a recruiting area of 500-600 miles from campus. Every DII school has a maximum number of scholarships awards to offer for each sport which can’t be exceeded. As a result few DII athletes receive a full scholarship and fund their tuition through a combination of methods including – scholarship money, grants, financial aid and employment.
◦DIII colleges are required to sponsor a minimum of 5 sports for men and women with a minimum participation and contents requirements for each sport. It is important to recognize that financial aid and funding differ at the DIII school versus DI and DII. Student athletes who play their sport at the DIII level do not receive financial aid related to their athletic ability. This is a result of their emphasis on the impact of athletics on the players not the spectators, allowing the primary focus to be on academics. Since athletics are funded like any other academic department their recruiting budget is much lower. DIII schools offer financial aid packages in the form of academic scholarships, leadership scholarships, merit-based scholarships, grant money and needs based financial aid.

Centenary used to be one of the smallest if not the smallest D1 school. They made a difficult decision to move from D1 to D111 for financial reasons. They are willing to work with players but grades and test scores are very important. They played last year with a keeper who had played "some" in high school, but was actually a soft ball player. Tough decision and coach is doing his best to rebuild their program. Great school academically, especially if a player is pre-med or pre-dental.