Prairie State Wire

Northwestern University football earns an average of $375,549 per player annually – the 36th highest rate in the nation – according to a Prairie State Wire analysis of federal education data.

The analysis found that the university had 103 students playing on its football team and took in a total of $38,681,564 in total football revenues.

The other Illinois school among the the nation’s 100 colleges and universities that take in the most football revenue was University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (No. 43). Northern Illinois University ranked No. 116, and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale came in at No. 178. 

The U.S. Department of Education’s office of postsecondary education collects athletics data annually from all institutions with intercollegiate athletics programs that receive funding through federal financial aid programs. Data for 2016 – the latest year available – includes more than 2,000 schools nationwide.

Top 100: College football programs that reap the most revenue

School	State	Division	Enrollment	Football Total Participation	Football Revenue	Revenue Per Athlete
The University of Texas at Austin	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	37,026	125	$141,173,444	$1,129,388
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	NCAA Division I-FBS	20,719	125	$110,673,571	$885,389
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,218	115	$95,876,446	$833,708
University of Notre Dame	IN	NCAA Division I-FBS	8,480	117	$96,835,375	$827,653
The University of Alabama	AL	NCAA Division I-FBS	29,071	135	$108,117,057	$800,867
Auburn University	AL	NCAA Division I-FBS	20,260	120	$91,652,926	$763,774
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	NCAA Division I-FBS	27,833	139	$105,876,108	$761,699
University of Georgia	GA	NCAA Division I-FBS	26,252	128	$93,335,288	$729,182
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	LA	NCAA Division I-FBS	23,036	120	$86,183,249	$718,194
Florida State University	FL	NCAA Division I-FBS	29,051	121	$86,565,283	$715,416
Pennsylvania State University- Main Campus	PA	NCAA Division I-FBS	39,883	117	$81,106,066	$693,214
University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	NCAA Division I-FBS	28,165	116	$80,230,690	$691,644
Ohio State University- Main Campus	OH	NCAA Division I-FBS	41,666	130	$89,893,135	$691,486
University of Florida	FL	NCAA Division I-FBS	30,583	120	$82,791,752	$689,931
University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	NCAA Division I-FBS	28,201	115	$73,548,409	$639,551
University of Oregon	OR	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,309	111	$66,307,082	$597,361
University of Arkansas	AR	NCAA Division I-FBS	19,774	122	$71,197,898	$583,589
University of Southern California	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,070	107	$59,837,839	$559,232
Texas A & M University-College Station	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	44,975	126	$70,427,183	$558,946
Michigan State University	MI	NCAA Division I-FBS	35,280	118	$64,958,793	$550,498
University of Mississippi	MS	NCAA Division I-FBS	17,649	119	$62,681,760	$526,737
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	NE	NCAA Division I-FBS	19,381	139	$69,503,006	$500,022
University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	NCAA Division I-FBS	23,947	121	$60,264,364	$498,053
University of Iowa	IA	NCAA Division I-FBS	20,690	121	$58,685,965	$485,008
Texas Christian University	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	8,591	125	$58,775,636	$470,205
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	NCAA Division I-FBS	25,175	119	$53,471,351	$449,339
University of Minnesota- Twin Cities	MN	NCAA Division I-FBS	28,782	112	$48,886,935	$436,490
Stanford University	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	7,032	103	$44,469,378	$431,742
Clemson University	SC	NCAA Division I-FBS	17,849	121	$51,712,856	$427,379
University of Utah	UT	NCAA Division I-FBS	17,081	127	$51,559,243	$405,978
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	GA	NCAA Division I-FBS	13,698	116	$46,252,310	$398,727
University of Arizona	AZ	NCAA Division I-FBS	29,049	113	$44,177,156	$390,948
Baylor University	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	14,087	114	$43,223,215	$379,151
Syracuse University	NY	NCAA Division I-FBS	14,324	117	$44,182,377	$377,627
Northwestern University	IL	NCAA Division I-FBS	8,249	103	$38,681,564	$375,549
North Carolina State University at Raleigh	NC	NCAA Division I-FBS	20,818	115	$43,165,259	$375,350
University of Colorado Boulder	CO	NCAA Division I-FBS	25,692	116	$43,529,706	$375,256
Texas Tech University	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	26,588	121	$44,646,242	$368,977
University of California- Los Angeles	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	30,329	109	$39,953,277	$366,544
Arizona State University-Tempe	AZ	NCAA Division I-FBS	38,761	121	$43,012,682	$355,477
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	PA	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,129	114	$40,124,656	$351,971
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	IL	NCAA Division I-FBS	32,126	102	$35,622,414	$349,239
University of Louisville	KY	NCAA Division I-FBS	12,325	121	$42,066,595	$347,658
Washington State University	WA	NCAA Division I-FBS	21,534	117	$40,547,097	$346,556
University of California-Berkeley	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	28,107	133	$44,279,264	$332,927
Kansas State University	KS	NCAA Division I-FBS	17,562	125	$40,887,031	$327,096
Oregon State University	OR	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,395	105	$33,866,008	$322,533
University of Miami	FL	NCAA Division I-FBS	10,102	114	$35,358,218	$310,160
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,330	137	$42,225,614	$308,216
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	NCAA Division I-FBS	17,828	134	$41,163,583	$307,191
University of Kansas	KS	NCAA Division I-FBS	16,987	109	$33,144,217	$304,075
Iowa State University	IA	NCAA Division I-FBS	28,791	137	$41,584,474	$303,536
Mississippi State University	MS	NCAA Division I-FBS	16,134	119	$35,687,282	$299,893
University of Kentucky	KY	NCAA Division I-FBS	20,772	123	$36,393,185	$295,880
Duke University	NC	NCAA Division I-FBS	6,449	116	$33,907,896	$292,309
Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	NCAA Division I-FBS	31,884	128	$37,085,787	$289,733
Vanderbilt University	TN	NCAA Division I-FBS	6,808	104	$29,036,478	$279,197
Boston College	MA	NCAA Division I-FBS	9,486	105	$28,487,714	$271,312
University of Maryland- College Park	MD	NCAA Division I-FBS	26,174	111	$29,973,008	$270,027
University of Connecticut	CT	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,538	104	$25,936,445	$249,389
Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	NCAA Division I-FBS	33,939	107	$25,423,916	$237,607
University of Missouri-Columbia	MO	NCAA Division I-FBS	24,060	123	$29,205,904	$237,446
Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	NCAA Division I-FBS	29,301	110	$26,014,107	$236,492
Wake Forest University	NC	NCAA Division I-FBS	4,899	110	$23,955,942	$217,781
Brigham Young University-Provo	UT	NCAA Division I-FBS	28,012	128	$26,116,548	$204,036
University of Virginia- Main Campus	VA	NCAA Division I-FBS	15,420	108	$21,136,336	$195,707
Boise State University	ID	NCAA Division I-FBS	12,350	112	$21,302,390	$190,200
West Virginia University	WV	NCAA Division I-FBS	20,524	128	$22,453,097	$175,415
University of Central Florida	FL	NCAA Division I-FBS	38,228	124	$21,546,497	$173,762
Temple University	PA	NCAA Division I-FBS	26,128	125	$20,624,125	$164,993
Southern Methodist University	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	6,294	120	$17,637,584	$146,980
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	OH	NCAA Division I-FBS	21,445	108	$15,491,793	$143,443
Colorado State University-Fort Collins	CO	NCAA Division I-FBS	21,211	112	$15,444,486	$137,897
Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	NCAA Division I-FBS	6,487	99	$13,367,701	$135,027
University of South Florida-Main Campus	FL	NCAA Division I-FBS	23,603	118	$15,588,752	$132,108
University of Tulsa	OK	NCAA Division I-FBS	3,248	116	$15,145,884	$130,568
University of Memphis	TN	NCAA Division I-FBS	12,372	120	$14,713,436	$122,612
University of Houston	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	25,399	122	$14,641,643	$120,013
California State University-Fresno	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,828	112	$13,219,900	$118,035
East Carolina University	NC	NCAA Division I-FBS	19,698	109	$12,595,950	$115,559
San Diego State University	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	26,530	122	$13,715,072	$112,419
University of Wyoming	WY	NCAA Division I-FBS	8,099	119	$13,133,784	$110,368
Rice University	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	3,824	112	$12,001,178	$107,153
The University of Texas at El Paso	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	13,321	119	$12,454,995	$104,664
University of New Mexico-Main Campus	NM	NCAA Division I-FBS	15,732	113	$11,778,648	$104,236
University of Hawaii at Manoa	HI	NCAA Division I-FBS	10,676	119	$11,811,670	$99,258
University of Nevada-Las Vegas	NV	NCAA Division I-FBS	18,237	100	$9,806,497	$98,065
University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	NCAA Division I-FBS	21,340	114	$10,457,450	$91,732
The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	19,995	116	$10,615,893	$91,516
Ohio University-Main Campus	OH	NCAA Division I-FBS	17,794	120	$10,705,125	$89,209
Old Dominion University	VA	NCAA Division I-FBS	15,173	118	$10,391,676	$88,065
University of North Texas	TX	NCAA Division I-FBS	25,486	113	$9,917,343	$87,764
Western Michigan University	MI	NCAA Division I-FBS	14,999	99	$8,667,334	$87,549
James Madison University	VA	NCAA Division I-FCS	18,467	119	$10,111,658	$84,972
San Jose State University	CA	NCAA Division I-FBS	21,569	97	$8,228,106	$84,826
University of Toledo	OH	NCAA Division I-FBS	12,810	120	$10,046,711	$83,723
Louisiana Tech University	LA	NCAA Division I-FBS	7,434	100	$8,334,252	$83,343
Utah State University	UT	NCAA Division I-FBS	16,888	108	$8,981,573	$83,163
Lafayette College	PA	NCAA Division I-FCS	2,505	80	$6,581,062	$82,263
Middle Tennessee State University	TN	NCAA Division I-FBS	15,985	129	$10,541,364	$81,716

Source: U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education