Husker Athletics adding more than 150 scholarships over next three years
By Aaron Bonderson 
, Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
Feb. 4, 2026, 11:52 a.m. ·
Nebraska Athletics on Wednesday announced a plan to add 151 scholarships over the next three years, with more than half of them added in the 2026-27 academic year.
“This will not only help each of our teams compete at a high level, but it will also better support many student-athletes in their education and pursuit of a college degree,” Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said in a press release Wednesday.
For women’s sports, 48 scholarships will be added next year, with the other 30 going to men’s sports. Including existing scholarships, 360 male and female student athletes will receive a scholarship next season, according to Husker Athletics.
Under a new settlement that allows players to receive direct compensation from athletic departments and new NCAA rules, football rosters are limited to 105 athletes. But now, each of those players can receive a scholarship. Previously, teams could only offer 85 scholarships in football. Since Nebraska opted into the settlement, there are no longer any sport-specific scholarship limits, other than rules mandating total roster size, the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors decided in June.
According to the news release, NU Athletics will tack on 17 women’s and 15 men’s scholarships for the 2027-28 sports season. The release called the plan “a phased approach” to adding new scholarships.
For 2028-29, the athletic department plans to award 31 additional women’s and 10 more men’s scholarships.
The move to increase academic aid for women at the university, aligns with “proud history as a leader in women’s athletics,” said Nebraska’s Deputy Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator Kristen Brown.
“We are pleased that the addition of these scholarships, along with the addition of Women’s Flag Football, will help Nebraska achieve our long-standing goal of Title IX proportionality,” Brown added.
On Jan. 16, Husker Athletics became the first Power Four conference program to announce plans to add a varsity women’s flag football team to its offerings, starting in spring 2028. Nebraska wasted no time on the decision, following the NCAA officially adding the sport in all three divisions on the same day.