The Southern Conference and Big Sky Conference have announced new scholarship restrictions for the 2025 football season, ensuring their schools remain under the traditional 63-scholarship cap despite looming NCAA changes.
Sam Herder of Hero Sports first reported both decisions.
Currently, FCS football programs are limited to 63 scholarships, which, unlike their FBS counterparts, are equivalency-based — allowing academic aid to be divided among 85 players rather than exclusively offering full-ride scholarships.
The new scholarship mandates come as the NCAA prepares for structural changes under the House v. NCAA settlement, which, if formally approved this month, will introduce a more professionalized model for college athletics. The settlement eliminates scholarship caps, institutes roster limits and allows schools to compensate athletes via direct NIL revenue-sharing payments.
Under the new model, schools that opt into the settlement can only roster 105 players. However, they will have the permissive ability to offer them all full scholarships — a 42-scholarship increase from current FCS limits. Schools that do not opt in will remain subject to the existing 63-scholarship cap.
Another FCS conference has decided to set a football scholarship cap.
I’m told that for the 2025 season, the Big Sky will be at 63 football scholarships, which can be spread out over as many as 105 players.
The current (pre-House) scholarship equivalency for FCS teams is a 63… https://t.co/y893BGE8Vh
Although participation in the settlement is voluntary, many FCS programs have already signaled their intent to opt in, attracted by the promise of enhanced recruiting stemming from revenue-sharing compensation and expanded scholarship opportunities.
However, to maintain competitive equity, the SoCon and Big Sky have instituted policies keeping the cap at 63 scholarships regardless of a school’s opt-in status.
By enforcing these restrictions, the Big Sky and SoCon aim to ensure that schools that opt into the settlement, often the same schools with greater financial resources, do not gain a competitive advantage over those that do not.
This decision contrasts with the Coastal Athletic Association, which has mandated every institution to opt into the settlement without limiting scholarship expansion. While the CAA embraces a unified approach, the Big Sky and SoCon prioritize institutional autonomy — allowing each school to determine its stance on new professional concepts.
Schools inside most FCS conferences will likely be split on operating inside the NCAA’s new model. Without uniformity in the rules schools inside of a conference play under, the Big Sky and SoCon have decided it is essential to maintain some competitive equity by leveraging conference-wide scholarship restrictions.
Framers of the House v. NCAA settlement have vehemently argued that removing scholarship caps will expand academic aid for athletes. However, early signs suggest that the assumption may not hold.
Amongst schools cutting sports and moving to lower NCAA divisions, athletic programs continue to respond to new financial realities by capping scholarships at the conference level.
This article first appeared on NIL on SI and was syndicated with permission.
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