Why do colleges choose to join the NAIA?

Answer 1

The NAIA is sports played the right way.

In the NAIA its is truly about academics, student experience and athletic experience. In that order. If you look at the regional US News rankings, you will see the top positions dominated by NAIA members.

But more importantly, the NAIA doesn't have the rules the NCAA does. For instance, a coach can work with athletes all year. Where as in the NCAA, they only have a certain number of practices. Thus a coach becomes a life influence.

NAIA games, matches and meets are drastically different. The level of sportsmanship during high level, intense competition is wonderful. Truely, the NAIA athletes have tremendous respect for each other DURING and after the game.

But mainly, it comes down to Character. Very few NCAA athletic programs recruit on character, rather DIII recruits for enrollment reasons, DII athletic staffs see it as a stepping stone and are driven to succeed at all cost, and DI is about money.

NAIA is the way it should be. People coaching and playing because they love it.