Colleges Continue to Add Football Teams

Five schools set to launch in 2012 with 17 more new programs in the works

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame highlighted today that five new college football teams are set to take the field for the first time this season, joining 28 new programs that have begun play since 2008 and 17 more programs set to launch between 2013 and 2015.

“It’s exciting to see the launch of these programs because they are giving high school players the opportunity of playing at different levels in regions of the country where those options did not previously exist,” NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. “Football’s popularity has never been greater, and the fact that so many schools are embracing it is a testament that more and more college administrators see the value of the sport to a student’s overall educational experience.”

Universities and colleges are adding football at all levels, and administrators have developed sound plans, ensuring the new programs address the unique financial, academic and long-term objectives of their respective schools. The 50 institutions listed below, who have implemented firm plans during the past few years, coupled together the more than 20 schools with exploratory committees, create a clear and undeniable trend that presidents and trustees nationwide see the value of a football program as part of their overall academic mission. The trend stretches back for decades. Since 1978 when the NCAA changed its method for tracking attendance figures, the number of schools playing NCAA football has steadily increased by 154 schools.

To read the complete report from the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, click here