Lynchburg, VA (Sports Network) - Liberty University is eying a jump to the highest level of NCAA competition, its chancellor and president said Saturday.

Jerry Falwell, Jr. announced during its commencement that Liberty intends to seek NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference affiliation for its 20-team athletics program.

The school has studied the issue for the past six months and will hold a press conference Monday to further discuss its findings.

Liberty, which has competed at the Division I level for 24 years, has been affiliated with the Big South Conference since 1991. Its teams have captured 110 conference titles during that time.

Its football team competed as an independent FCS program for 14 years before joining the Big South in 2002. Liberty has won four out of the last five Big South football titles and has finished as a top 25-ranked FCS program the last four years.

05/12 21:29:28 ET