Shoutout to Matt Brown of Extra Points. I highly encourage folks to subscribe to his newsletter for great information on off-the-field topics.
Matt recently compiled a list of FY25 football operating budgets at the Division I level with the data via the Extra Points Library.
I extracted the FCS schools and put them into another table as a good point of reference for myself and other subdivision followers. The full list with FBS schools can be found here.
For the FCS, South Dakota State led the way in FY24 at $9,620,366. However, Montana State’s football budget increased by $4,530,140 in FY25, moving from $8,847,642 to $13,377,782 to sit atop the subdivision in FY25. Montana State had a bigger football budget in FY25 than 20+ FBS teams, including teams like Northern Illinois, Wyoming, and UTEP.
NOTES: Numbers below are from fiscal year 2025 (2024 football season). Private schools and some public schools are not required to disclose this information through FOIA or open records requests. *Sacramento State and North Dakota State are moving to the FBS in 2026. Football budgets include items like scholarships, coaching staff salaries, travel expenses, equipment, stadium/facility debt, etc.
FCS Football Budgets (FY25)
| Rk | School | Football Budget | Conf |
| 1 | Montana State | $13,377,782 | Big Sky |
| 2 | *Sacramento State | $10,126,064 | Big Sky |
| 3 | Tarleton State | $9,415,847 | UAC |
| 4 | South Dakota State | $9,124,858 | MVFC |
| 5 | William & Mary | $8,965,483 | CAA |
| 6 | Montana | $8,889,687 | Big Sky |
| 7 | *North Dakota State | $8,353,482 | MVFC |
| 8 | Stony Brook | $8,207,986 | CAA |
| 9 | South Dakota | $7,913,204 | MVFC |
| 10 | UC Davis | $7,800,037 | Big Sky |
| 11 | Idaho | $7,444,813 | Big Sky |
| 12 | Cal Poly | $7,367,131 | Big Sky |
| 13 | Norfolk State | $7,148,912 | MEAC |
| 14 | North Dakota | $6,957,141 | MVFC |
| 15 | Northern Arizona | $6,888,584 | Big Sky |
| 16 | Rhode Island | $6,882,247 | CAA |
| 17 | Eastern Kentucky | $6,787,579 | UAC |
| 18 | Chattanooga | $6,626,202 | SoCon |
| 19 | Eastern Washington | $6,592,060 | Big Sky |
| 20 | Stephen F. Austin | $6,391,770 | Southland |
| 21 | UAlbany | $6,282,323 | CAA |
| 22 | Alabama A&M | $6,275,934 | SWAC |
| 23 | Morgan State | $6,218,305 | MEAC |
| 24 | Maine | $5,820,521 | CAA |
| 25 | Tennessee Tech | $5,811,530 | OVC-Big South |
| 26 | Towson | $5,810,356 | CAA |
| 27 | Austin Peay | $5,733,334 | UAC |
| 28 | Northern Colorado | $5,701,876 | Big Sky |
| 29 | Northern Iowa | $5,681,373 | MVFC |
| 30 | Southern | $5,658,093 | SWAC |
| 31 | Lamar | $5,643,571 | Southland |
| 32 | Southern Illinois | $5,544,857 | MVFC |
| 33 | The Citadel | $5,503,440 | SoCon |
| 34 | Portland State | $5,448,403 | Big Sky |
| 35 | New Hampshire | $5,422,334 | CAA |
| 36 | Weber State | $5,385,486 | Big Sky |
| 37 | McNeese | $5,260,577 | Southland |
| 38 | VMI | $5,217,980 | SoCon |
| 39 | Eastern Illinois | $5,089,300 | OVC-Big South |
| 40 | Youngstown State | $5,024,652 | MVFC |
| 41 | Grambling State | $4,981,977 | SWAC |
| 42 | Illinois State | $4,878,072 | MVFC |
| 43 | SC State | $4,845,832 | MEAC |
| 44 | Indiana State | $4,832,933 | MVFC |
| 45 | Idaho State | $4,789,595 | Big Sky |
| 46 | NC A&T | $4,788,303 | CAA |
| 47 | Prairie View A&M | $4,745,975 | SWAC |
| 48 | Utah Tech | $4,730,346 | UAC |
| 49 | East Texas A&M | $4,712,258 | Southland |
| 50 | NC Central | $4,691,602 | MEAC |
| 51 | Florida A&M | $4,558,050 | SWAC |
| 52 | Jackson State | $4,533,278 | SWAC |
| 53 | Alcorn State | $4,455,095 | SWAC |
| 54 | UT Martin | $4,426,548 | OVC-Big South |
| 55 | Central Arkansas | $4,411,759 | UAC |
| 56 | Southeastern | $4,351,469 | Southland |
| 57 | Southern Utah | $4,298,072 | UAC |
| 58 | Western Carolina | $4,120,560 | SoCon |
| 59 | Murray State | $4,002,300 | MVFC |
| 60 | North Alabama | $3,932,412 | UAC |
| 61 | SEMO | $3,921,274 | OVC-Big South |
| 62 | West Georgia | $3,715,778 | UAC |
| 63 | Western Illinois | $3,514,500 | OVC-Big South |
| 64 | Nicholls | $3,406,656 | Southland |
| 65 | Northwestern State | $3,373,067 | Southland |
| 66 | Texas Southern | $3,064,981 | SWAC |
| 67 | CCSU | $2,768,117 | NEC |
| 68 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | $2,407,434 | SWAC |
| 69 | Morehead State | $1,686,373 | Pioneer |
| 70 | Mississippi Valley State | $1,553,420 | SWAC |
