Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

Normally, our Tuesdays are partially behind a paywall. But today, we’re lifting it, thanks to a paid partnership with Huron Consulting.

Huron is a global professional services firm with more than 1,300 professionals dedicated to higher education and experience serving each of the nation’s top 100 research universities. Huron combines broad higher education expertise with deep experience in intercollegiate athletics, supported by nationally recognized leaders and practitioners including Sandy Barbour, Jim Delany, Bernard Muir, Kevin Weiberg, and Dr. Kevin White. Together, Huron’s athletics team helps clients navigate the evolving collegiate athletics landscape through strategic, financial, and operational decision-making.

In August, I reported that Central Missouri was set to become the first Division II institution to launch a jersey patch sponsorship deal across its athletic department.

I’m not quite as familiar with D-II institutions as I am with Division I, but I knew Central Missouri was a large and historically successful athletic department, so I wasn’t shocked to learn it was the first to secure a patch deal. But once I dug into the athletic department’s financial data, I was a little surprised.

In its FY25 NCAA MFRS report, Central Missouri reported spending $14,527,254 on athletics. That’s more than over a dozen public D-I schools reported spending in FY25. By every objective financial metric available to me, from ticket sales to sponsorship revenue, Central Missouri was a larger athletic department than several D-I schools.

And that got me thinking. Is this just a one-off, or are there many other schools like Central Missouri? What’s the financial gap between the proverbial “haves” and “have-nots” at that level? Where does the money come from?

I’ve done a lot of this sort of work for D-I institutions, because we’ve FOIA’d the annual operating budget for virtually every public school at that classification, from Ohio State and Texas to Chicago State and Southern Indiana. But I hadn’t really done it, at scale, for D-II institutions.

Until now, that is.

We’ve obtained, via open records requests, the FY25 MFRS data for more than 100 public schools in D-II. We’ve filed requests for all the other institutions and will update these charts as that data becomes available to us.

First, let’s take a look at total reported expenses across entire athletic departments from FY25, or from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. This is the most current standardized athletic department data set available.

The entire sheet is below, but the folks at Huron broke out the expenses by conference:

Just like with D-I, there are “haves” in D-II, and “have-nots”. Or at least, “have less.”

And here’s the exact number for every school in our database:

School Name

FY25 Total Operating Expenses

Grand Valley State University

$26,003,596

Wayne State University (Michigan)

$20,157,436

Minnesota State University, Mankato

$19,934,366

Colorado School of Mines

$17,603,823

Northern Michigan University

$17,451,906

West Texas A&M University

$17,322,275

Colorado Mesa University

$17,188,162

University of Minnesota Duluth

$16,147,590

University of West Florida

$15,953,922

Northwest Missouri State University

$15,199,220

Emporia State University

$15,067,123

Pittsburg State University

$14,624,944

University of Central Missouri

$14,527,254

Ferris State University

$14,496,562

St. Cloud State University

$14,479,342

Southern Connecticut State University

$14,042,697

Frostburg State University

$13,791,809

Saginaw Valley State University

$13,404,620

California State University, San Bernardino

$13,158,696

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

$13,016,652

Michigan Technological University

$12,907,116

University of Alaska Fairbanks

$12,118,780

Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

$11,390,079

California State University, East Bay

$11,384,973

California State University, San Marcos

$11,384,973

Missouri Western State University

$11,175,657

Bemidji State University

$10,905,505

Missouri Southern State University

$10,730,495

University of Nebraska at Kearney

$10,536,903

University of Alaska Anchorage

$10,475,711

University of North Georgia

$10,166,503

Virginia State University

$10,162,883

Western Colorado University

$10,104,245

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

$10,037,305

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

$9,970,245

Central Washington University

$9,960,712

The University of Texas at Tyler

$9,759,641

University of Texas Permian Basin

$9,664,981

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

$9,589,142

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

$9,537,029

Angelo State University

$9,528,657

Fort Hays State University

$9,449,965

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt

$9,412,246

Millersville University of Pennsylvania

$9,281,877

Missouri University of Science and Technology

$9,192,105

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

$9,003,041

Western Oregon University

$8,970,624

Minot State University

$8,930,303

Sonoma State University

$8,852,244

California State University, Stanislaus

$8,839,034

Fort Lewis College

$8,834,576

Northern State University

$8,670,624

Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion

$8,669,923

Western Washington University

$8,665,825

Valdosta State University

$8,615,061

Southwest Minnesota State University

$8,597,308

Metropolitan State University of Denver

$8,533,548

Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania

$8,530,009

California State University, Los Angeles

$8,450,670

Wayne State College (Nebraska)

$8,441,147

Minnesota State University Moorhead

$8,314,203

Eastern New Mexico University

$8,219,479

California State University, Chico

$8,069,160

Pennsylvania Western University, California

$7,991,116

Francis Marion University

$7,892,207

Augusta University

$7,783,594

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

$7,749,749

Arkansas Tech University

$7,713,793

Black Hills State University

$7,628,798

Winona State University

$7,459,082

Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro

$7,423,978

Northeastern State University

$7,313,855

Henderson State University

$7,129,330

Southern Arkansas University

$7,105,877

New Mexico Highlands University

$7,097,479

Purdue University Northwest

$7,032,828

Midwestern State University

$7,022,460

California State University, Monterey Bay

$6,928,371

University of Wisconsin-Parkside

$6,909,460

Texas A&M International University

$6,903,162

San Francisco State University

$6,764,128

West Liberty University

$6,749,373

The University of Virginia's College at Wise

$6,599,407

Rogers State University

$6,490,829

University of North Carolina at Pembroke

$6,451,187

Lake Superior State University

$6,411,725

University of Minnesota, Crookston

$6,401,753

Truman State University

$6,326,999

Glenville State University

$6,271,790

Western New Mexico University

$6,202,849

Winston-Salem State University

$6,083,882

Concord University

$5,981,781

Northwestern Oklahoma State University

$5,963,960

Delta State University

$5,901,863

Columbus State University

$5,880,531

Montana State University Billings

$5,842,498

University of Missouri-St. Louis

$5,833,413

University of Illinois Springfield

$5,671,901

University of Arkansas, Monticello

$5,659,462

Texas Woman's University

$5,648,722

Queens College (New York)

$5,448,053

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

$5,116,763

University of Arkansas, Fort Smith

$4,712,494

Cameron University

$4,629,305

University of California, Merced

$4,614,043

Bowie State University

$4,494,264

University of the District of Columbia

$4,469,557

Elizabeth City State University

$4,076,263

Mansfield University of Pennsylvania

$4,069,099

Georgia Southwestern State University

$3,366,247

Savannah State University

$3,020,604

Clayton State University

$2,303,800

College of Staten Island

$2,243,972


The lowest reported number we found for D-I schools was Coppin State, which reported athletic department spending of $5,201,184. More than 90 D-II schools reported spending more than that!

If you’d prefer a conference breakdown, well, Huron made one of those:

The largest D-II operating budget — Grand Valley State, at roughly $26 million — would be roughly 150th in D-I public schools, right between Idaho and Prairie View A&M. By my reading, roughly the top 25 or so D-II schools are reporting budgets in the neighborhood of the smallest budgets in D-I.

What about revenues? There are no $50 million-a-year TV contracts at the D-II level. But these schools do sell tickets. Here are the D-II programs that generated the most ticket revenue:

School Name

FY25 Total Ticket Sale Revenue

University of Minnesota Duluth

$2,794,012

Minnesota State University, Mankato

$1,324,199

St. Cloud State University

$1,032,670

Bemidji State University

$961,133

Northern Michigan University

$960,254

Grand Valley State University

$845,357

West Texas A&M University

$838,897

Michigan Technological University

$682,514

Angelo State University

$552,143

Winston-Salem State University

$503,499

Pittsburg State University

$416,600

University of Alaska Fairbanks

$361,426

Ferris State University

$357,665

Fort Hays State University

$348,310

Northwest Missouri State University

$316,262

University of Alaska Anchorage

$308,613

Savannah State University

$289,044

University of West Florida

$280,675

Colorado School of Mines

$266,264

Lake Superior State University

$232,791

Virginia State University

$223,895

Saginaw Valley State University

$211,515

Colorado Mesa University

$206,369

California State University, Stanislaus

$201,143

Emporia State University

$193,913

Arkansas Tech University

$193,078

Elizabeth City State University

$179,253

University of Central Missouri

$167,390

Valdosta State University

$154,087

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

$148,960

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

$137,172

University of North Georgia

$135,499

California State University, Chico

$133,934

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

$131,984

Western Washington University

$123,565

Winona State University

$122,858

Midwestern State University

$116,589

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

$115,860

Missouri Southern State University

$114,897

Black Hills State University

$112,417

Central Washington University

$110,251

University of Nebraska at Kearney

$104,471

Wayne State University (Michigan)

$103,584

Minnesota State University Moorhead

$95,289

Southwest Minnesota State University

$92,588

Delta State University

$92,400

University of North Carolina at Pembroke

$91,703

Wayne State College (Nebraska)

$85,875

Millersville University of Pennsylvania

$83,957

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

$83,926

Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania

$80,850

Northeastern State University

$80,280

Eastern New Mexico University

$79,135

Northern State University

$78,431

Texas Woman's University

$76,990

Missouri Western State University

$70,095

Northwestern Oklahoma State University

$69,106

Pennsylvania Western University, California

$65,697

Western Colorado University

$65,330

Columbus State University

$57,444

Metropolitan State University of Denver

$56,856

Montana State University Billings

$54,926

University of Wisconsin-Parkside

$51,291

Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

$51,163

Western Oregon University

$50,181

Minot State University

$49,450

University of California, Merced

$48,780

West Liberty University

$47,741

Henderson State University

$47,393

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

$46,028

The University of Texas at Tyler

$44,780

Missouri University of Science and Technology

$44,687

Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro

$43,972

Purdue University Northwest

$43,041

California State University, Los Angeles

$40,046

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

$37,707

Augusta University

$36,881

California State University, Monterey Bay

$36,560

Frostburg State University

$35,868

University of Illinois Springfield

$34,199

Fort Lewis College

$32,865

Rogers State University

$32,691

California State University, San Marcos

$31,575

California State University, East Bay

$31,575

University of Arkansas, Monticello

$30,414

Cameron University

$29,693

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt

$28,558

San Francisco State University

$27,838

Francis Marion University

$24,501

The University of Virginia's College at Wise

$24,478

New Mexico Highlands University

$24,419

California State University, San Bernardino

$23,754

Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion

$22,842

Sonoma State University

$21,856

University of the District of Columbia

$21,802

Western New Mexico University

$21,541

Texas A&M International University

$21,329

Southern Connecticut State University

$20,839

Clayton State University

$20,382

University of Missouri-St. Louis

$19,812

Truman State University

$16,501

University of Arkansas, Fort Smith

$16,334

Glenville State University

$11,516

Southern Arkansas University

$8,990

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

$8,359

Mansfield University of Pennsylvania

$7,218

University of Minnesota, Crookston

$6,403

Concord University

$5,719

College of Staten Island

$3,754

Georgia Southwestern State University

$2,532

Queens College (New York)

$1,174

University of Texas Permian Basin

$299

Bowie State University

$0

I imagine you see a pattern here, right?

The largest ticket-selling programs in DII tend to actually compete at the D-I level in men’s hockey, a sport that isn’t sponsored in D-II. It’s a little easier to tell tickets when you can host programs like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Denver, rather than Black Hills State. 

If we remove the D-I hockey programs, the top D-II programs are generating in the $300,000 to $800,000 range for total ticket sales, primarily from football. That isn’t anywhere close to what even a lower-level Power 4 program generates. (Cincinnati, for example, reported nearly $13 million in ticket sales.) But it does exceed many other D-I programs. Based on the FY25 reports, 42 public D-I programs reported less than $300,000 in total ticket sales, including Cleveland State, UMKC and UC-Riverside. 

Of course, just like with D-I, there’s a significant range between the proverbial “haves” and “have-nots” at the D-II level. Ticket sale generation near the bottom of D-II is under five figures, or well below what a good Texas high school might hope to generate. And to better demonstrate what total spending looks like at the bottom of D-II, we have data from 19 public schools that spend less than $6 million a year, which is roughly what Maryland pays embattled head football coach Mike Locksley. That’s just one guy. 

You can’t really compare the athletic departments of a school like UC Merced or Elizabeth City State with anything in the Big Ten, or even the Big West.

But like most things in college sports, the dividing lines are often much murkier than just conferences or even divisions. The rules are different, but the top of D-II has more in common with much of D-I than you might think.