Independent schools are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision. These are four-year institutions with football programs that are not included in any of the conferences affiliated with the NCAA. It means that Independents do not have to be scheduled for competitions like the conference schools do.

There have been fewer independents these days than in the past as more and more independent schools join college athletic conferences for the main purpose of gaining a share of TV revenue or participating in bowl games that take teams from college athletic conferences to deal with difficult challenges of scheduling opponents and competitors to play with throughout the football season. All Independents are qualified to join a Bowl Championship Series as long as they meet the requirements for eligibility.

Since Division I-A was formed in 1978; there have been several Independents that have already joined college athletic conferences. Some of these are the Air Force, which is now with Mountain West Conference, Akron, which is now with Mid-American Conference, Alabama-Birmingham, which is now with Conference USA, Arkansas State, which is now with the Mountain West Conference, Boston College, which is now with Sun Belt Conference, and Colgate Connecticut now with Conference USA, and a lot more.