Division 3 Colleges by State: NIL, Conferences, and the D3 NIL Reality

NCAA Division III is the largest competitive tier in college athletics — roughly 195,000 athletes across more than 440 institutions, representing about 37% of all NCAA student-athletes. Unlike Division I, D3 programs don’t offer athletic scholarships. Unlike the new House v. NCAA settlement era at the D1 level, D3 schools are not part of the House settlement and are not eligible for revenue sharing under the new framework. That means D3 NIL operates differently — smaller in scale, but increasingly real, and growing meaningfully as the broader college sports landscape matures.

If you’re a fan, alum, family member, or local business owner looking to understand the D3 NIL landscape, here’s where it actually stands in 2026, organized by state and conference, with honest economics throughout.

D3 NIL is real — and the NCAA is actively reviewing it

First, the basics: D3 athletes are NIL-eligible under NCAA policy, just like their D1 and D2 counterparts. They can sign endorsement deals, sponsor brands on social media, do paid appearances, sell merchandise, and earn through fan-facing platforms. What’s different is the scale and the infrastructure.

On April 30, 2026, the NCAA Division III Presidents Council approved a framework to review NIL activities across the division. The decision came after the 2026 NCAA Convention, where leadership was charged with monitoring NIL and determining whether future policy or legislation is needed. A 19-member working group is analyzing how NIL should evolve within D3’s core principles, with initial recommendations expected at the 2027 NCAA Convention. The review covers:

• The legal landscape across state NIL laws and how they intersect with D3 operations
• The status and influence of NIL collectives and third-party support entities at the D3 level
• Institutional approaches to NIL education and oversight
• Prospective student-athlete expectations and experiences
• How D3 can adapt while preserving the academic-first philosophy that defines the division

This is significant: it signals that D3 NIL is no longer a side conversation. The Division III governance structure is actively engaged in figuring out how to integrate NIL while maintaining what makes D3 distinctive. The Presidents Council also approved replacing Board of Governors representative Greg Ricketts with a new graduate student-athlete — keeping athlete representation at the highest level of NCAA decision-making as NIL questions become more complex.

The NCAA also offers a dedicated NIL Assist resource at nilassist.ncaa.org, which includes guidance specifically for D2 and D3 student-athletes and their parents — covering brand-building, local partnerships, and the practical mechanics of NIL at the smaller-program level.

D3 fans who want to follow individual athletes and support them through fan-powered NIL can browse athlete pages on RallyFuel — including profiles for athletes at D3 schools where fan support is the meaningful difference between an athlete earning a few hundred dollars in a season versus several thousand.

What D3 NIL actually pays — be honest about the numbers

According to D3-specific NIL data through early 2026, the total compensation tracked across all D3 athletes since 2021 is approximately $574,123 — averaging $140 per deal and $239 per athlete. At many smaller D3 schools, the average annual NIL deal is under $100. Successful D3 athletes — those who treat NIL as a deliberate brand-building exercise — can reach four or five figures, but those are exceptional rather than typical.

Jack Betts of Amherst College — known as “The King of D3 NIL” — illustrates what’s possible at the top end. Betts, a former Mammoths football wide receiver, has signed 35+ NIL deals worth approximately $7,500 in cash and free merchandise, partnering with brands including AllBirds and Omaha Steaks. He attended the inaugural NIL Summit in Atlanta in 2022. Betts’s approach centered on deliberate outreach, content creation, and treating his personal brand as a business — strategies that translate well at the D3 level where fewer athletes are competing for the same brand attention.

Laney Higgins of Oglethorpe College (volleyball, SAA conference) has built 12 NIL deals and donated more than $5,000 of her earnings to charity — illustrating how D3 NIL doesn’t need to be financially massive to be personally meaningful. Gier Knight (a Division III athlete with a focused outreach strategy) built six NIL deals worth approximately $600 with just 3,000 social media followers — demonstrating that authentic engagement matters more than raw audience size at the D3 level.

Cody Wheeler of Whitworth University — a 2024 NCAA Division III National Champion in javelin — represents the non-revenue-sport athlete navigating D3 NIL. Track and field, swimming, field hockey, and other Olympic-style sports often have less national exposure than football or basketball, but at the D3 level, that gap is smaller. A national champion in track has real NIL value with regional and niche brands.

D3 NIL by state and conference

D3 schools cluster heavily in specific regional hubs across the Northeast and Midwest, creating natural geographic NIL markets. Below is the landscape organized by state and conference, with verified institutions.

New York and the Northeast

Liberty League — Includes Bard, Clarkson, Hobart, Ithaca, RIT, RPI, Skidmore, St. Lawrence, Union, Vassar, William Smith. Strong programs across multiple sports.

SUNYAC (State University of New York Athletic Conference) — Public D3 schools across New York, including Brockport, Cortland, Fredonia, Geneseo, New Paltz, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh, Potsdam.

Why NIL matters in New York: proximity to NYC and Albany markets, regional alumni networks, and strong field hockey/lacrosse traditions create distinctive partnership opportunities.

Massachusetts: NESCAC and NEWMAC

NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) — 11 schools, widely considered the most academically prestigious D3 athletic conference. Members include Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Trinity (CT), Tufts, Wesleyan. NESCAC has produced multiple national champions across sports and has a deep alumni and corporate network — meaningful for NIL.

NEWMAC (New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference) — Includes Babson, Clark, Coast Guard, Emerson, MIT, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Springfield, WPI.

Amherst’s Jack Betts is the best-known NESCAC NIL story. The combined NESCAC alumni network — concentrated in finance, technology, and law in the Northeast corridor — represents one of D3’s most distinctive NIL markets.

Pennsylvania: Centennial and Landmark

Centennial Conference — Includes Johns Hopkins (a perennial Division III lacrosse and field hockey powerhouse), Bryn Mawr, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg, Haverford, Muhlenberg, McDaniel, Swarthmore, Ursinus, Washington College.

Landmark Conference — Includes Catholic, Drew, Goucher, Juniata, Lycoming, Moravian, Scranton, Susquehanna.

The Centennial’s Johns Hopkins is one of D3’s most recognized brands, particularly in lacrosse and field hockey. Pennsylvania’s broader corporate footprint (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg) creates accessible regional NIL markets.

Ohio: Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)

OAC — Includes Mount Union (one of D3’s premier football programs with multiple national championships), Baldwin Wallace, Capital, Heidelberg, John Carroll, Marietta, Muskingum, Otterbein, Ohio Northern, Wilmington.

Mount Union’s national football brand carries genuine NIL value at the D3 level — the program has produced multiple national champions and NFL-caliber players over the decades, creating fan and alumni engagement that supports athlete branding.

Illinois and the Midwest: CCIW and NACC

CCIW (College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) — Includes Augustana, Carthage, Elmhurst, Illinois Wesleyan, Millikin, North Central, North Park, Wheaton.

NACC (Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference) — Wisconsin and Illinois schools.

MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) — Strong Minnesota schools including Bethel, Carleton, Concordia (Moorhead), Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline, Macalester, St. Catherine, St. Olaf, St. Thomas.

The Midwest’s manufacturing, insurance, and agricultural business networks create distinctive local NIL markets for D3 athletes — particularly in football, basketball, and hockey at schools with deep regional alumni roots.

Southeast: SAA, ODAC, USA South

SAA (Southern Athletic Association) — Includes Berry, Birmingham-Southern (now closed), Centre, Hendrix, Millsaps, Oglethorpe, Rhodes, Sewanee (University of the South), Trinity (TX), and Southwestern. The SAA has been a notable D3 NIL leader: Sewanee signed one of the first department-wide D3 NIL platform partnerships in April 2023, and Centre College announced a similar department-wide arrangement in June 2024 covering all 600+ student-athletes. Rhodes (Memphis, Tennessee) operates with regional corporate-hub access, and Southwestern (Georgetown, Texas) joined the conference as a full member in July 2025, expanding SAA NIL into Texas’s deregulated market. Oglethorpe (Atlanta metro) offers urban-market NIL access uncommon in D3 — volleyball player Laney Higgins’s portfolio of 12 NIL deals reflects what’s possible in major-metro D3 settings.

ODAC (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) — Virginia and Maryland schools.

USA South — Carolinas-region schools.

Mid-Atlantic, Pacific, and beyond

Middle Atlantic Conferences — Multiple sub-conferences across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware.

SCIAC (Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) — Includes Claremont Mudd Scripps, Pomona-Pitzer, Caltech, Chapman, Whittier, Redlands, La Verne, Occidental.

Northwest Conference (NWC) — Includes Whitworth (Cody Wheeler’s school), Linfield, Pacific (OR), Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound, Whitman, Willamette.

California D3 athletes have a particularly distinctive NIL market: the state’s NIL laws are among the most athlete-friendly in the country, and proximity to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego business networks creates access to brands that simply don’t exist near most rural D3 schools.

D3 institutional involvement: what’s actually allowed

The NCAA Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee has issued specific guidance on what D3 institutions can and cannot do in supporting student-athlete NIL activity. Key provisions:

What D3 institutions CAN do:

• Provide NIL education sessions for athletes, families, prospective athletes, NIL entities, and boosters (financial literacy, taxes, entrepreneurship, social media)
• Engage NIL entities to inform athletes of opportunities
• Engage NIL entities to administer marketplaces matching athletes with brand deals (without institutional involvement in the deals themselves)
• Provide athlete contact info and directory information to NIL entities
• Promote an athlete’s NIL activity through no-cost methods (retweeting, liking social media posts)
• Arrange space on campus for NIL entity-athlete meetings
• Request donors to contribute to NIL entities (without earmarking funds for specific athletes)

What D3 institutions CANNOT do:

• Compensate athletes directly for use of their NIL (except for actual and necessary expenses tied to institutional charitable or educational activities) — Bylaw 12.5.1.1
• Have athletics department staff members represent enrolled student-athletes for NIL deals (negotiation, securing deals) — Bylaw 11.1.4
• Proactively develop, create, execute, or implement an athlete’s NIL activity (unless the same benefit is generally available to all institutional students)
• Provide services to support NIL activity (graphics design, tax prep, contract review) unless those services are generally available to all students
• Subscribe and donate cash directly to NIL entities
• Allow staff members to own or be employed by NIL entities serving their own institution
• Engage in pay-for-play (NIL deals tied to athletic performance) — Bylaw 12.1.5.2(a) prohibits use of athletic skill for pay in any form

This is meaningfully more restrictive than D1 institutional involvement rules. It means D3 NIL operates with genuine independence from the athletic department — the school provides education and infrastructure access, but cannot drive deals or fund athletes directly.

D3 NIL infrastructure: where it exists, and where it doesn’t

Most D3 schools don’t have formal “NIL collectives” the way major D1 programs do. Instead, D3 NIL infrastructure typically takes one of several forms:

• Department-wide marketplace partnerships — Some D3 schools (Sewanee, Centre, and a small number of others) have signed institutional NIL platform deals that provide all student-athletes access to merchandise pages and brand-deal opportunities. Pacific Lutheran University (Northwest Conference) operates its own custom marketplace connecting Lutes athletes directly with local sponsors.
• Team-level fan subscription models — Many D3 teams operate small fan subscription programs where supporters contribute to support the team and athletes share in revenue.
• Individual athlete entrepreneurship — The Jack Betts model. Athletes who treat their personal brand as a deliberate business, build social media followings, and proactively pitch local and national brands.
• Local business sponsorships — Restaurants, bars, retail, fitness studios, healthcare practices in college towns near D3 schools. These deals are typically modest ($50-$500) but consistent.
• No infrastructure — At many D3 schools, NIL exists in policy but not in practice. Athletes who want NIL income must build it themselves.

This is precisely the space where fan-powered NIL platforms make a meaningful difference. Without major collective funding or institutional marketplace deals, individual athletes at smaller D3 programs depend on fan support to make NIL economically real.

How NIL works without scholarships at D3

Because D3 programs cannot offer athletic scholarships, NIL income operates entirely separately from financial aid in the structural sense:

• D3 athletes receive academic aid only — merit-based scholarships, need-based grants, institutional discounting, legacy grants, and leadership awards. Athletics is not a funding source.
• NIL income is independent contractor income — D3 athletes receiving NIL compensation receive 1099-NEC forms (not W-2s) at year-end and are responsible for self-employment tax in addition to federal and state income tax.
• NIL income can affect financial aid — Significant NIL income may be considered in subsequent aid calculations. D3 athletes who become meaningful NIL earners should understand how Pell Grant and institutional aid formulas treat outside income.
• D3 athletes are not subject to the NIL Go portal — The $600 disclosure threshold under the House settlement applies to D1 athletes at schools that opted into revenue sharing. D3 athletes still need to follow state NIL laws and university policies, but the federal NIL Go infrastructure does not require D3 disclosure.

Standard practice for any D3 athlete earning meaningful NIL income: set aside 25-30% of every payment for tax obligations immediately, track every agreement with written records, and consult with a tax preparer familiar with 1099 income before filing.

How fans plug in to support D3 athletes

Three practical paths for supporting D3 athletes:

1. Attend home events. D3 athletic events are typically free or low-cost, and crowd size has a real impact on athlete morale and program visibility. Conference rivalries — NESCAC weekends, OAC football matchups, CCIW basketball tournaments — are some of the most authentic atmospheres in college athletics.
2. Follow individual athletes and team accounts on social media. Engagement directly affects an athlete’s negotiating leverage with sponsors. At the D3 level, an athlete with even 5,000-10,000 engaged followers in the right geographic market becomes meaningfully more valuable to local and regional brands.
3. Back D3 athletes directly through RallyFuel. RallyFuel is a fan-powered NIL platform where supporters can contribute toward specific athletes’ NIL deals. The mechanic is straightforward: fans pledge support to an athlete, and the funds convert to an NIL agreement only if the athlete stays enrolled at the designated school through a designated period. If the athlete transfers or selects a different school during the conditional period, fans receive an automatic refund to their original payment method — no manual request required. This is particularly useful for D3 fans because it addresses precisely the infrastructure gap at the D3 level: where most D3 schools don’t have major collectives, fan-driven platforms become the practical way to fund meaningful NIL outcomes. Contributions can be made in any amount, allowing alumni, families, and community supporters to participate at whatever scale fits their budget.

Q&A

Are D3 athletes really NIL-eligible? Yes. All NCAA athletes across Divisions I, II, and III are NIL-eligible under current NCAA policy, subject to state law and university restrictions.

Are D3 schools part of the House v. NCAA settlement? No. The House settlement applies only to Division I institutions that opt in. D3 schools are not eligible for the revenue-sharing framework and are not subject to House-related NIL Go portal requirements.

What does the NCAA Division III NIL working group do? Established by the Division III Management Council in April 2026, the 19-member working group is reviewing how NIL should integrate with D3’s academic-first philosophy. Initial recommendations are expected at the 2027 NCAA Convention.

Why doesn’t D3 offer athletic scholarships? D3’s foundational philosophy is academic-first — student-athletes compete for “the love of the game” while receiving academic, need-based, and merit aid. The lack of athletic scholarships is a defining feature, not a limitation.

How much do D3 athletes typically earn from NIL? According to D3-specific data through early 2026, total D3 NIL compensation tracked since 2021 is approximately $574,123, averaging $140 per deal and $239 per athlete. Many smaller-program athletes earn under $100/year. Exceptional D3 NIL earners (Jack Betts of Amherst, for example) have earned $7,500+ in cash and merchandise across many deals.

Who are some notable D3 NIL athletes? Jack Betts (Amherst football, “King of D3 NIL,” 35+ deals); Laney Higgins (Oglethorpe volleyball, 12 deals with $5,000+ donated to charity); Cody Wheeler (Whitworth javelin, 2024 NCAA D3 national champion); Gier Knight (6 deals worth $600 with focused outreach strategy at 3K followers).

Why doesn’t D3 offer athletic scholarships? D3’s foundational philosophy is academic-first — student-athletes compete for “the love of the game” while receiving academic, need-based, and merit aid. The lack of athletic scholarships is a defining feature, not a limitation.

What can D3 institutions do to support NIL — and what’s forbidden? D3 schools CAN provide NIL education, engage NIL entities to inform athletes of opportunities, share athlete directory info with NIL entities, and arrange campus space for NIL meetings. They CANNOT compensate athletes directly for NIL use, have staff represent athletes in NIL negotiations, proactively develop NIL deals, or fund NIL entities directly. The full framework is codified in NCAA Division III Bylaws 11.1.4, 12.1.5.2(a), 12.5.1.1, and 16.3.

Is there an official NCAA resource for D3 NIL? Yes. The NCAA NIL Assist resource at nilassist.ncaa.org provides guidance specifically for D2 and D3 student-athletes and parents, covering brand development, local partnerships, financial literacy, and the practical mechanics of NIL at the smaller-program level.

What’s the most prestigious D3 athletic conference? The NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) is widely regarded as the most prestigious D3 conference academically and competitively. Members include Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, Tufts, Bowdoin, and others.

What’s the best D3 football conference? The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) and the American Rivers Conference are perennial powerhouses. Mount Union (OAC) has multiple D3 national championships.

What D3 schools have signed department-wide NIL marketplace deals? Sewanee (University of the South) signed one of the earliest D3 institutional NIL partnerships in April 2023. Centre College followed in June 2024 with a department-wide arrangement covering all 600+ student-athletes. Several other D3 schools have followed similar patterns since.

Does location affect D3 NIL earning potential? Yes, significantly. D3 athletes in major metropolitan areas (NYC, Boston, LA, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia) typically have access to larger regional markets, more potential local sponsors, and stronger alumni business networks than athletes at remote rural D3 institutions.

Do D3 athletes pay taxes on NIL income? Yes. NIL income is taxable as self-employment income, reported on Form 1099-NEC. D3 athletes are responsible for federal income tax, self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare), and state income tax where applicable. Standard practice is to set aside 25-30% of every payment for tax obligations.

Can NIL income affect a D3 athlete’s financial aid? Potentially yes. Significant NIL income may be considered in subsequent need-based aid calculations, including Pell Grant eligibility. D3 athletes earning meaningful NIL income should understand how their school’s financial aid office treats outside income.