Future of Division III

[Ron Boerger]

Is CWRU anywhere on the list.  I know that their total endowment is in the $2.4 billion range or so.

Case checks in at 120th ($207.1K/student) due to a reported FTE load of 11,571.  In terms of absolute value they rank 67th ($2.397B). 

[Kuiper]

Guilford College Bond Rating dropped

A 16% drop in enrollment and an 18% endowment draw is not sustainable

 

S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term rating on the Public Finance Authority, Wis.' debt, issued for Guilford College, N.C., to 'BB+' from 'BBB-'.
The outlook is stable.
The downgrade reflects our view of Guilford's enrollment pressure, including a large 16% decrease in fall 2025, and weakened demand metrics, further pressuring operating performance in fiscal 2026 and beyond.
The downgrade also reflects our view of the college's continued use of extraordinary endowment draws, at over 18% in fiscal 2025, which pressures financial resources. We also believe Guilford's very low student enrollment will continue to contribute to operational challenges.

[Ron Boerger]

Quite surprising they kept the outlook "stable" given these factors.  Doesn't sound stable to me. 

[Kuiper]

Cal Baptist (D1) Announces it will be cutting Wrestling, Men's Gold, and Men's Swimming and Diving in advance of move to the Big West Conference

This isn't a D3 school, nor does it deal with D3 sports that have large numbers of participants, but I thought the cited reasons in the FAQ's for the cuts are revealing.  Cal Baptist is a growing school (about 12K students), but not a DI power by any means.  It only moved from D2 to D1 in 2022.  It's the kind of non-football school that will struggle financially in DI if it tries to fully fund all of its programs in terms of scholarships, let alone pays them NIL money.  Rather than take a step back, though, it is cutting programs to try to make a go of it. That "cut and consolidate" approach, if followed by schools like Cal Baptist, is going to further push students to D3 if they want to continue to play their sport at a varsity level.

How and Why Was this Decision Made?

CBU has closely monitored the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics that have affected institutions across the nation.  A thoughtful evaluation of CBU's athletic programs occurred, including consideration of the student-athlete experience across all sports, changes to NCAA rules, investments required to fully fund athletic scholarships, and strategic considerations associated with positioning Lancer Athletics more competitively for the future.

We were hopeful we could continue our existing athletic programs in this new environment, but it has become clear that we cannot maintain our current programs and realize the university's goal of achieving greater competitive excellence that the new Division I era demands. The existing structure of offerings made it increasingly difficult to remain competitive. The decision was made to discontinue three sports in order to offer our remaining student-athletes and teams the best chance to succeed in future competition.

Why Were These Sports Chosen to be Cut?

A number of factors were considered including community impact, Title IX, the House settlement, and available resources and facilities.

[Ralph Turner]

Steve Ulrich's D3playbook.com has published an opinion piece by Stephanie Dutton (Commissioner, United East Conference), Joe Onderko (Commissioner, Presidents Athletic Conference) and Tom DiCamillo (Commissioner, SUNYAC) about the legislation before the National Convention permitting 2 AQ's for a 12-team conference. (I encourage you to subscribe to his daily newsletter.)

https://www.d3playbook.com/p/opinion-division-iii-legislation-supporting-2-aqs-fosters-conference-stability-enhances-student-athl

[Ralph Turner]

It seems to me that the move to 12/2 might destabilize D3 more than meet the objectives described in the opinion piece presented above. Would 10 and 11 team conferences look to cherry-pick from nearby conferences, which in turn might destabilize that conference that would lose a key member? IMHO, the 3 commissioners reflected unique conferences with specific missions, visions and cultures.

For a contrarian view of the proposal, the UEC gets another bid, most likely pulling the bid from a "more deserving" Pool C team. The UEC has been a stabilizing force for intercollegiate athletics in its region for schools who need intercollegiate athletics as a recruiting and retention strategy. (I am glad that they are there. But do they deserve another bid?) The Presidents AC has grown the 12 and has "accrued new members" from the neighboring AMCC and NCAC. The "new members" might attribute the move to mission and vision, but the Presidents AC getting another bid would not be an unwelcomed dividend. The SUNYAC has seen membership change for several reasons. The SUNYAC has certainly seen change over the last decade. Would two bids have kept Brockport or New Paltz? Ten years ago, could you have foreseen New Delhi and Cobleskill in the SUNYAC ? 

I doubt that 2 bids for a 16 member American Southwest Conference in 2011-2012 would have affected the mission/vision and strategies for intercollegiate athletics by the respective institutions. When Pool C bids were scarcer, it was a different story. The expanded playoffs have afforded opportunities for so many more schools across D3 whose seasons can see that Pool C bid just in reach in the last weeks of a season.

I will appreciate other comments.

[Caz Bombers]

Two AQs for the worst conferences in D3 like the United East? Gross. Awful. Anti-competitive. Hopefully the proposal fails.

[ziggy]

Two AQs for the worst conferences in D3 like the United East? Gross. Awful. Anti-competitive. Hopefully the proposal fails.

Yeah, I'm not sure when the votes actually take place at this week's convention but the mutli-AQ proposal would surprise me if it even got to a vote, much less got voted in. It is on the agenda but has been kept alive despite the Management Council taking a stance against it.

I can appreciate the attempt to explain the merits of the proposal in terms of fostering conference stability and that larger conferences naturally leads to more regional play but calling the stance of detractors "self-serving" was rich.

[CNU85]

I believe anything brought to the floor for a vote at the D3 level happens Friday.

[Ron Boerger]

If your twelve-team conference isn't good enough to earn a Pool C, it sure as hell doesn't deserve a second auto bid.