What is a D1 school?

I'm interested in college athletics and keep hearing about D1 schools. Can someone explain what exactly a D1 school is and what makes it different from other divisions?

A Division 1 (D1) school refers to a category within the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), which is the governing authority for university and college athletics. The NCAA has three divisions (D1, D2, D3) based on the level of competitiveness, with D1 being the highest.

Division I colleges often have more resources available such as larger budgets, more scholarships, bigger facilities, and larger coaching staffs than Division II and Division III. Due to these resources, D1 schools are able to recruit top athletes and tend to offer more full-ride scholarships.

Notably, Division I is further split into two groups: FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) and FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). This split mostly pertains to football colleges, where FBS schools tend to be in larger conferences with huge stadiums and nationally televised games.

However, it is important to note that the division a school belongs to does not necessarily indicate the academic quality of the institution. There are D3 schools that are academically rigorous, just as there are D1 schools that are academically prestigious. The division level only describes the athletic competition level of the university or college.