Future of Division III

[MCScots2013]

Birmingham-Southern tried it and failed. Sweet Briar tried it and is still around after the board attempted to close in 2015. I hope more find success like Sweet Briar.

[IC798891]

Hartwick also did this.

In general, I get it. Yes, you lose out on those who might pay full tuition, but waiting around to find out what financial aid you're going to be getting must be stressful. I just interviewed an Ithaca alumna who was not going to be able to come to IC had she not gotten the scholarship she did.

Just having a sense of "this is what it's going to cost us" is probably very helpful to families

[MCScots2013]

I surely would not have been able to attend Maryville without my scholarship (which is probably the same feeling of 99% of college students nationally, both then and today).  I think at the time--2009-- the sticker price was just under 40k/year.  Many schools in the region were well under that, many well over.  HSC (local to me) was maybe 50k, W&L closer to 60k as was U of R (Richmond)--though I had no desires to go there.  Several people I went to high school with went to Ferrum.  Ferrum was much lower than many of the other VA small liberal arts/D3 schools.  The one outlier was/is Christopher Newport which is a state school with what I have to imagine is a very competitive admissions process.

This reminds me of a Warren Buffett quote: "Price is what you pay, value is what you get."  If being the cheapest tuition correlated into the highest enrollment, Happy Valley Community College would have 80k students instead of Penn State.

[Ron Boerger]

Surprisingly, CNU's admission rate is somewhere in the mid-80s (86% for the class that entered last year per CNU itself).  Of that 86%, only 18% actually enrolled.

[Pat Coleman]

York (Pa.) did this some time ago, before COVID.

[MCScots2013]

Surprisingly, CNU's admission rate is somewhere in the mid-80s (86% for the class that entered last year per CNU itself).  Of that 86%, only 18% actually enrolled.

Admitting 6300 freshmen with a total student body of 4500 seems a little crazy. Can't be a common practice, right?  Would probably run into issues if more students decided they wanted to live near the water.

Not linking it here, but a 2024-2025 Report to the General Assembly shows CNU ($16,800) is above average statewide with tuition and fees for state supported schools ($14,500).  CNU is similar to VCU, Virginia Tech and Longwood in that regard. UVA and William & Mary are well above the mean.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Surprisingly, CNU's admission rate is somewhere in the mid-80s (86% for the class that entered last year per CNU itself).  Of that 86%, only 18% actually enrolled.

Admitting 6300 freshmen with a total student body of 4500 seems a little crazy. Can't be a common practice, right?  Would probably run into issues if more students decided they wanted to live near the water.

Not linking it here, but a 2024-2025 Report to the General Assembly shows CNU ($16,800) is above average statewide with tuition and fees for state supported schools ($14,500).  CNU is similar to VCU, Virginia Tech and Longwood in that regard. UVA and William & Mary are well above the mean.

I imagine CNU has a pretty good idea of how many students will actually enroll each year.  I know, even five hours away here in Delaware, it's a pretty popular backup option.  They've got a good reputation regionally, and it's a nice place to live.

[MCScots2013]

You can have a good idea until it becomes a bad one.  Students are flocking away from smaller more pricier schools for larger and "cost effective" ones. (Isn't that the theme of this thread in recent history?)  A small increase would be a hassle, potentially problematic unless that increase is from commuter students. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

You can have a good idea until it becomes a bad one.  Students are flocking away from smaller more pricier schools for larger and "cost effective" ones. (Isn't that the theme of this thread in recent history?)  A small increase would be a hassle, potentially problematic unless that increase is from commuter students. 

I'm pretty sure they built a whole bunch of new dorms recently.  That campus is really thriving.  They guarantee on campus housing all four years and encourage students to use it.  I suspect they'd love the number to go up.  I'd bet they can house more than they do.

[Pat Coleman]

You can have a good idea until it becomes a bad one.  Students are flocking away from smaller more pricier schools for larger and "cost effective" ones. (Isn't that the theme of this thread in recent history?)  A small increase would be a hassle, potentially problematic unless that increase is from commuter students. 

I'm pretty sure they built a whole bunch of new dorms recently.  That campus is really thriving.  They guarantee on campus housing all four years and encourage students to use it.  I suspect they'd love the number to go up.  I'd bet they can house more than they do.

Keeping people on campus for the weekends is one of the reasons they added football a quarter-century ago.

https://www.d3football.com/notables/2005/adding-football-why-and-how

[Kuiper]

This is not a D3 school, but as a reasonably small school in New Jersey, Rider is D3-adjacent in both a literal and figurative sense.

Rider Set to Lay Off 25% of Faculty After University Placed on Financial Probation

Rider administrators plan to lay off 25% of its full-time faculty by Dec. 31, after the university was placed on probation because of its financial standing, according to the March to Sustainability Plan announced by Rider President John Loyack on Nov. 10.

In addition to eliminating 35 to 40 full-time faculty positions, the Plan calls for faculty and staff to make several sacrifices, including a reduction of all employees' base pay by 14% and an indefinite suspension of Rider's retirement contribution both beginning Dec. 1, along with a requirement that all faculty teach more classes each semester.

Following its review of Rider's financial information provided on Oct. 17, the accreditors became concerned over Rider's financial viability and that Rider may not be in compliance with Middle States' financial standards, according to Rider's March to Sustainability Plan FAQs website page. These standards are stated in Middle States' Standard VI: Planning, Resources and Institutional Improvement, which requires institutions to demonstrate the appropriate level of financial, human, physical and technical resources, and the funding base and financial development plans necessary to adequately support their educational purposes and programs.

While under probation, Rider will continue to be accredited and will have the opportunity to be in compliance with Middle States' financial standards by implementing the steps outlined in the March to Sustainability Plan and a submission of a monitoring report to Middle States by January 12, 2026, according to Loyack's email.

Rider is also required to submit a teach-out plan by Dec. 19 to Middle States as part of the probation. The accreditors are scheduled to meet in March to decide the status of Rider's accreditation, according to the university.

[Gregory Sager]

The article you linked indicates that the school has been having difficulty adhering to its motto of In Omnia Paratus ("In all things prepared").

[CNU85]

Allow me to boast about my undergraduate alma mater.

With some exceptions, CNU students are required to live on campus their first three years. Many students prefer to live on campus for their senior year. My daughter opted to live in a house nearby for her senior year (not my house!). The dorms are amazing and I can see why some would opt to stay on campus. My daughter's sophomore and junior year dorms were 12 month dorms. She never moved. The 12 month dorms do not have to leave during breaks. There were 4 bedrooms in her dorm (apartment). Each bedroom has a private bathroom. There was a full kitchen, dining area, living room and washer/dryer. Residents halls in the latest rankings (take rankings with a grain of salt) have them at #1 in Virginia and #4 in the nation.

Science labs at one point were highly rated. Up there with Stanford if I remember correctly. The Biology program is ranked #8 by Study.com. The MAT was ranked #1 in nation a few years ago. I could go on....but that's enough to make the point.

Starting around 1997, when former US Senator Paul Trible became the CNU President, there has been somewhere close to $1.5 Billion in improvements. There is a ribbon cutting on a brand new Science and Research building in January. Here's a live video feed of the construction. CNU Science. Our new President, Bill Kelly (retired Rear Admiral) is continuing the excellence in not only buildings but in academics. He previously was the head of the Coast Guard Academy and is a former D3 student-athlete.

The leadership program just won it's third consecutive Global Leadership Conference in Prague. The Marching Band has performed in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin and in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade.

The business school recently won the Bloomberg Trading Challenge.

We have 3 coaches with over 600 wins in their sport.....Field Hockey, Baseball and Softball. All 3 are former CNU student-athletes. I did an analysis in February on currently active CNU coaches. 7 of them are in the top 10 in their sport of Active coaches in D3 based on winning %. Those 7 are also in the top 11 of coaches all-time in D3. Another coach is on top 20 active coaches and the women's soccer coach will be on the list once he gets enough seasons under his belt.

Currently Field Hockey is ranked #1. Football #7, Women's soccer #14, Men's soccer #22, Men's basketball #9, Women's Basketball #20 (d3hoops)/#7 (Coaches). Men's Lacrosse was #4 for most of last season.

Our head groundskeeper is phenomenal.  A few years ago he won an award for best D3 Softball field in the nation. CNU only D3 school honored As mentioned in the last football podcast, we play football on grass. The field is immaculate. Chris is a VT graduate (multiple degrees in turf management) and was the top assistant groundskeeper for the Nationals.

We recently built a chapel on campus. Imagine that. A state school building a non-denominational chapel. We have added a fine arts center to go along with the performing arts center. The "Ferg"

The campus is beautiful. Live Cam - Great lawn

I hope this post doesn't put people off. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in a particular sport that we forget that we are talking colleges and universities which is of greater importance at this level.

And the story I just presented about CNU is not an outlier. I'm sure others could do the same about their alma mater. The research institutions of the UAA. The prestige of the NESCAC schools. The national championship dominance in certain sports by particular schools.

D3 tells a great story in general. I hope the challenges being faced by many are overcome and we can continue experiencing what all d3 student athletes bring to their respective sports and institutions.

[Ron Boerger]

Admitting 6300 freshmen with a total student body of 4500 seems a little crazy. Can't be a common practice, right?  Would probably run into issues if more students decided they wanted to live near the water.

This is a common practice nowadays as students now apply easily to many schools using a common application - it's called "yield management".  My ~2,500 student alma mater saw nearly 12,000 applications, admitted around 3,000, of which a little over 600 enrolled this year.

[MCScots2013]

CNU85, don't take this the wrong way--it helps to have a $200 million from the state.  Of course, the University has to be great stewards of the money to keep the level, and it sounds like CNU as stepped up.  As a Virginia taxpayer, I am glad you are able to boast on your alma mater!

2025 Budgets:
CNU: $201m
W&M: $469m
GMU: $1.5b
JMU: $784m
Longwood: $175m
Norfolk State: $240m
ODU:$585m
Radford: $285m
Mary Wash.: $175m
UVA: $2.2b ($68m for UVA-Wise)
VCU: $1.5b
VMI: $104m
Tech: $1.8b (gotta pay for a new coach...)
VSU: $234m