NCAA Division I FCS independent schools
NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions in the United States whose football programs are not members of a football conference. This means that NCAA [Division I Football Championship Subdivision|FCS] independents are not required to schedule each other for competition as conference schools do.
As of the most recent 2025 season, Merrimack and Sacred Heart competed as independents since their primary conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, does not sponsor football. They were previously members of the Northeast Conference, which sponsored the sport. Following the 2025 season, Sacred Heart will leave the independent ranks to join CAA Football.
As of the 2026 season, California State University, Sacramento will join the Big West Conference as a full member, leaving the Big Sky Conference. Since the Big West does not sponsor football, the Sacramento State Hornets football team will operate as an FCS independent. Also for 2026, Chicago State, a full NEC member, will play its first season of varsity football as an FCS independent before joining NEC football in 2027.
Former FCS independents
The following is a complete list of teams that have been Division I-AA/FCS Independents since the formation of Division I-AA in 1978. The "Current Conference" column indicates affiliations for the 2023 college football season. The years listed in this table are football seasons; since football is a fall sport, this means that the final season of independent status, or membership in a given conference, is the calendar year before a conference change took effect.Teams in italics are current FBS members; this includes second-year transitional schools that are counted as FBS for scheduling purposes but not bowl game eligibility. Because James Madison met FBS scheduling requirements in its first season in the Sun Belt Conference in 2022, it was allowed to skip the first year of the normal two-year process.