Women’s basketball at the HBCU D1 level has produced NBA lottery picks, Olympians, and coaches who have gone on to build programs at every level of the game. The investment behind those outcomes is rarely documented in one place. Here is the first comprehensive look at women’s basketball spending across all 23 schools in the Data Driven HBCU D1 cohort, drawn from official federal and NCAA filings.
About the Data
Two data sources are used here, and understanding both makes the numbers easier to read.
The EADA is a federal filing every co-educational Title IV institution must submit. It covers all 23 schools. The key thing to know about EADA revenue figures is that they include institutional support and student fees allocated to each sport. That is why so many programs show revenue matching expenses almost exactly — the university fills the gap before the numbers are reported. When you see a $0 net in the EADA table, it does not mean the sport broke even on its own. It means the institution made up the difference.
Howard University, Hampton University, and Bethune-Cookman University are private institutions not required to make their MFRS filings public. Delaware State does not make its MFRS data public, and FY2025 reports from Alabama State and Tennessee State have not yet come in.
Full data for both systems is available through the Data Driven HBCU dashboards. School-level EADA reports are at the EADA 2024-25 Index. MFRS reports are at the MFRS FY2025 Summary.
Women’s Basketball: EADA 2024-25 (23 Schools)
The EADA table shows the total resources allocated to women’s basketball, including the university’s contribution. Programs showing a $0 net are using a standard EADA balancing convention, in which institutional support fills the gap between what the sport earns and what it costs. Florida A&M’s figures reflect a program that operated under a multi-year Board of Governors repayment constraint on auxiliary funds, resolved by debt forgiveness in March 2026.
| Rank | School | Conf | Revenue | Expenses | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NC A&T State University | CAA | $2,251,026 | $2,251,026 | $0 |
| 2 | Norfolk State University | MEAC | $1,983,411 | $1,983,411 | $0 |
| 3 | Morgan State University | MEAC | $1,843,773 | $1,687,468 | +$156,305 |
| 4 | Hampton University | CAA | $1,679,644 | $1,756,485 | -$76,841 |
| 5 | Howard University | MEAC | $1,592,757 | $1,592,757 | $0 |
| 6 | Univ. of Maryland Eastern Shore | MEAC | $1,394,368 | $1,387,718 | +$6,650 |
| 7 | Alabama A&M University | SWAC | $1,293,631 | $1,183,091 | +$110,540 |
| 8 | Tennessee State University | OVC | $1,291,259 | $1,291,258 | +$1 |
| 9 | NC Central University | MEAC | $1,279,308 | $1,279,308 | $0 |
| 10 | Alcorn State University | SWAC | $1,225,522 | $1,225,522 | $0 |
| 11 | SC State University | MEAC | $1,202,933 | $1,202,933 | $0 |
| 12 | Grambling State University | SWAC | $1,177,003 | $1,177,003 | $0 |
| 13 | Bethune-Cookman University | SWAC | $1,172,246 | $1,172,246 | $0 |
| 14 | Alabama State University | SWAC | $1,129,829 | $1,129,829 | $0 |
| 15 | Texas Southern University | SWAC | $1,129,776 | $1,129,776 | $0 |
| 16 | Prairie View A&M University | SWAC | $1,045,728 | $1,045,728 | $0 |
| 17 | Jackson State University | SWAC | $978,954 | $978,954 | $0 |
| 18 | Southern University | SWAC | $895,927 | $1,089,349 | -$193,422 |
| 19 | Delaware State University | MEAC | $845,042 | $845,042 | $0 |
| 20 | Coppin State University | MEAC | $827,152 | $827,152 | $0 |
| 21 | Univ. of Arkansas-Pine Bluff | SWAC | $817,924 | $817,924 | $0 |
| 22 | Mississippi Valley State Univ. | SWAC | $615,606 | $619,024 | -$3,418 |
| 23 | Florida A&M University | SWAC | $376,252 | $933,675 | -$557,423 |
Women’s Basketball: MFRS FY2025 (17 Schools)
Most programs in the MFRS data show a deficit between what women’s basketball earns and what it costs. That gap is covered by institutional support and student fees — the same funding that is already baked into the EADA figures above. The deficits are not a sign of financial trouble. They are simply how Division I basketball gets funded at this level.
| Rank | School | Conf | Revenue | Expenses | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norfolk State University | MEAC | $2,216,942 | $2,216,943 | $0 |
| 2 | Prairie View A&M University | SWAC | $1,277,261 | $1,348,175 | -$70,914 |
| 3 | Univ. of Maryland Eastern Shore | MEAC | $1,140,360 | $1,351,357 | -$210,997 |
| 4 | SC State University | MEAC | $1,108,492 | $779,802 | +$328,690 |
| 5 | Mississippi Valley State Univ. | SWAC | $619,024 | $619,024 | $0 |
| 6 | Florida A&M University | SWAC | $445,050 | $881,528 | -$436,478 |
| 7 | Southern University | SWAC | $290,300 | $1,149,653 | -$859,353 |
| 8 | Alcorn State University | SWAC | $281,743 | $629,544 | -$347,801 |
| 9 | Grambling State University | SWAC | $256,614 | $1,174,599 | -$917,985 |
| 10 | NC A&T State University | CAA | $249,527 | $2,444,561 | -$2,195,034 |
| 11 | NC Central University | MEAC | $210,772 | $1,121,102 | -$910,330 |
| 12 | Alabama A&M University | SWAC | $189,565 | $1,627,032 | -$1,437,467 |
| 13 | Jackson State University | SWAC | $184,273 | $1,297,682 | -$1,113,409 |
| 14 | Morgan State University | MEAC | $156,305 | $1,687,468 | -$1,531,163 |
| 15 | Univ. of Arkansas-Pine Bluff | SWAC | $135,481 | $913,753 | -$778,272 |
| 16 | Coppin State University | MEAC | $125,638 | $678,919 | -$553,281 |
| 17 | Texas Southern University | SWAC | $23,535 | $1,038,096 | -$1,014,561 |
UMES ranks 6th in the EADA table but 3rd in the MFRS table. As a program without football, basketball carries more of the total athletic budget at UMES than it does at football-playing peers, which shows up when you look at the MFRS data on its own. SC State’s +$328,690 net is the largest positive margin in the MFRS cohort for women’s basketball.
Women’s Basketball Ticket Sales and Game Guarantees: MFRS FY2025 (17 Schools)
Grambling State led the cohort in WBB guarantees at $175,000, followed by Southern University at $165,000 and Jackson State at $132,500. Norfolk State and Alcorn State reported no guarantee revenue. Alabama A&M led in ticket sales at $136,382, with NC A&T at $33,575 and UAPB at $29,861.
| Rank | School | Conf | Ticket Sales | Guarantees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grambling State University | SWAC | $5,816 | $175,000 |
| 2 | Southern University | SWAC | $2,292 | $165,000 |
| 3 | Jackson State University | SWAC | $44,538 | $132,500 |
| 4 | Mississippi Valley State Univ. | SWAC | $10,102 | $116,000 |
| 5 | NC Central University | MEAC | $42,513 | $114,500 |
| 6 | Coppin State University | MEAC | $15,638 | $110,000 |
| 7 | Prairie View A&M University | SWAC | $28,069 | $106,000 |
| 8 | SC State University | MEAC | $5,104 | $103,500 |
| 9 | Texas Southern University* | SWAC | $21,011 | $100,000 |
| 10 | Morgan State University | MEAC | $0 | $98,000 |
| 11 | Univ. of Arkansas-Pine Bluff** | SWAC | $29,861 | $87,270 |
| 12 | Univ. of Maryland Eastern Shore | MEAC | $3,654 | $85,000 |
| 13 | Florida A&M University | SWAC | $24,397 | $84,242 |
| 14 | Alabama A&M University | SWAC | $136,382 | $53,000 |
| 15 | NC A&T State University | CAA | $33,575 | $35,000 |
| 16 | Norfolk State University | MEAC | $9,632 | $0 |
| 17 | Alcorn State University | SWAC | $4,650 | $0 |
*UAPB uses an alternate report format; figures sourced from sport-by-sport breakdowns on pages 17 and 24.
**Texas Southern reported guarantee revenue under Non-Program Specific. The $100,000 WBB figure represents an estimated amount attributed to women’s basketball after excluding football and men’s basketball allocations.
Data Driven HBCU covers the financial reality of public HBCU athletics using publicly available federal filings and NCAA data. EADA figures are drawn from OPE filings for academic year 2024-25. MFRS figures are drawn from FY2025 NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System filings.
Sources
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education. Equity in Athletics Data Analysis. Academic year 2024-25. ope.ed.gov/athletics
NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System. FY2025 filings for 17 D1 HBCU institutions, compiled by Data Driven HBCU.
