CAMDEN — Rutgers University expects to pull in at least an additional $200 million over 12 years by moving its athletic teams to the Big Ten conference, school officials said Wednesday.

The estimate was given to the Rutgers Board of Governors during a briefing on the state university’s costly move to the more prestigious conference. Rutgers is scheduled to move into the Big Ten next July 1.

“It’s a projection,” Greg Brown, head of the board’s athletics committee, said after the meeting in Camden. “What we’re saying is Rutgers is better off by about $200 million versus the status quo.”

Rutgers announced last year it was abandoning the Big East and accepting an invitation to join the Big Ten, which includes Ohio State, Michigan State and Northwestern. The move means Rutgers can cash in on the Big Ten’s more lucrative television contracts. But it also means the university will need to invest more in its athletic program to upgrade its teams and facilities to compete in the conference.

Critics of the move have questioned whether Rutgers – which already subsidizes its money-losing athletics department with university funds – will end up spending more on the transition to the Big Ten than it profits.

The $200 million estimate includes the extra money Rutgers expects to spend to transition its football and other teams into the Big Ten, campus officials said. It will take Rutgers six years to become a full member of the Big Ten and cash in on its full share of the profits.

“There is still a lot of work to be done. But the move into the Big Ten is unequivocally positive for Rutgers – academically, financially and athletically,” Brown said.

Rutgers and the remnants of the Big East, now called the American Athletic Conference, continue to battle in court over whether the university needs to pay $10 million in exit fees to leave.

In other business at the board of governors meeting, Rutgers officials said the university had a banner fundraising year pulling in donations, despite the negative publicity the school received earlier this year following a series of sports-related scandals.

As of Aug. 31, Rutgers’ endowment stood at $684.6 million, the lowest by far among the schools in the Big Ten, school officials said.

“I think we have some room to improve,” said Gerald Harvey, chairman of the Rutgers Board of Governors. “We are significantly underendowed.”

RELATED COVERAGE

• After 140 years, Rutgers nixes 'be a man' and rewrites alma mater with gender-neutral lyrics

• Rutgers U. breaks ground on $330 million College Avenue makeover

FOLLOW THE STAR-LEDGER: TWITTER • FACEBOOK • GOOGLE+