The 1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began in August 1983, and concluded with the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 17, 1983, at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Southern Illinois Salukis won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Western Carolina Catamounts by a score of 43−7.

[1] Big Sky Conference – Nevada Ivy League – Harvard and Penn Mid-Continent Conference – Eastern Illinois Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky Southern Conference – Furman Southland Conference – North Texas State and Northeast Louisiana Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State Yankee Conference – Boston University and Connecticut The top four teams were seeded, and received first-round byes.

[2] * indicates overtime period