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Schools Cutting Sports and Opportunities Instead of Leveraging Athletics to Avoid Going Out of Business College sports are facing a stark paradox: the same Power 4 conferences projected to pay more than $200 million this year in buyouts to coaches — including contracts for newly hired replacements — are simultaneously cutting programs, staff, and roster spots. These changes are happening under the radar, with little public acknowledgment of their impact on athletes and campus communities. The SEC alone accounts for nearly half of that total, yet its schools have quietly reduced roster sizes below NCAA limits sports such as men’s swimming. Penn State is paying a buyout of $50 Million to its former coach after announcing the closure of seven satellite campuses. In reality, the sport of football is the beneficiary of these moves. As someone whose business and passion is helping athletes identify and connect with their ideal college matches, this myopic mentality makes my head want to explode. Every roster reduction, program cut, or staff loss represents lost opportunities for student-athletes, with consequences that extend far beyond the field or court. Meanwhile, many enrollment-driven colleges are facing real financial hardship, with ongoing closings due to shrinking tuition revenue. The demographic cliff — a nationwide drop in the number of high school graduates — will only accelerate these pressures, making it more important than ever to view athletics as a strategic tool to support enrollment, revenue, and opportunity. Fairleigh Dickinson’s Smarter Play: Adding Men’s Fencing for Profit While the Power 4 quietly cut opportunities, Fairleigh Dickinson University is taking the opposite approach. Beginning in 2027, FDU will launch men’s fencing, a program projected to generate net profit through tuition revenue from non-scholarship athletes. Key details include:
FDU’s model demonstrates how smaller, enrollment-driven universities can use athletics strategically — not only to enhance campus life, but also to generate sustainable financial returns. Idaho’s Lesson: Cutting Actually Costs More In 2018, University of Idaho President Chuck Staben faced a state mandate to cut $1 million from athletics. On paper, this meant eliminating three sports: women’s soccer, women’s swimming, and men’s golf. But when Staben analyzed the full picture — including tuition from non-scholarship athletes — those programs were actually net profitable, and cutting them would have increased the university’s deficit by $1.6 million per year. He proposed adding sports instead, like men’s swimming, women’s triathlon, and rifle, which would have brought in an additional $843,000 annually. The state board refused to hear his proposal, and within a year, Idaho’s athletic deficit had grown even larger, exceeding $1.5 Million. Economist Andy Schwarz summarized the issue perfectly: “If schools with under-enrollment are acting like schools with over-enrollment, there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of economics.” In other words, smaller and mid-sized schools benefit most from holistic, university-wide financial planning — not siloed athletic department cuts. Roster Caps and the House Settlement: A Sham Benefit The NCAA, driven largely by the Power 4 conferences, has imposed roster caps on all Division I schools that opt into the House v. NCAA settlement. While the NCAA has promoted these caps as a benefit to student-athletes — allowing schools to offer scholarships up to the cap rather than the previous fractional number per sport — the reality tells a different story.
The Data: Non-Revenue Sports Can Pay Their Way Economist Andy Schwarz’s analysis of mid-sized Division I athletic departments (Central Michigan, Akron, and Western Kentucky) found that expanding equivalency sports — those with partial scholarships — can increase enrollment, boost Title IX compliance, and create net financial gains. At Central Michigan, for example, replicating or expanding its non-revenue sports could generate $650,000–$1.3 million in additional annual revenue, while creating opportunities for over 150 more student-athletes. Yet since 2020, more than 40 Division I programs have been eliminated, many in these very sports that could help stabilize enrollment and revenue. Rethinking College Sports in an Enrollment-Challenged Era With many colleges already struggling financially — especially smaller, tuition-dependent institutions — shrinking or eliminating sports is counterproductive. Athletics should be viewed as a recruitment and retention asset, not an expense to cut. The coming demographic cliff will make this even more urgent. Colleges that eliminate sports now may find themselves unable to recover lost enrollment later. From my perspective, every time a program or roster spot is cut, a student-athlete loses the chance to pursue their dream and gain a transformative college experience. My work is focused on helping these athletes find their best-fit schools, and I’m committed to doing everything possible to preserve those opportunities. Final Thought Fairleigh Dickinson’s men’s fencing program and Idaho’s experience both highlight a fundamental truth: non-revenue sports can be financially sustainable, mission-driven, and beneficial for universities. Plus, it's an opportunity to pick up athletes (and tuition) jettisoned by the power conferences! Meanwhile, the Power 4 conferences continue to spend hundreds of millions on coach buyouts and football expansion, while shaping NCAA policies that restrict opportunities for the rest of Division I. The NCAA’s roster caps — dictated by the Power 4 and applied to every school opting into the House settlement — do not help athletes. They limit tuition-paying roster spots and further entrench a football-first, short-sighted approach. If college athletics is to remain a force for opportunity, universities must invest in access and student experience, not excess. It’s time to rethink what truly sustains college sports — and who it should serve. About the Author Written by George White, founder of RecruitU — a company dedicated to helping student-athletes identify and connect with their ideal college matches to ensure a positive and successful college experience. Sources
Subject matter: Athletic recruiting, college athletic scholarships, college athletic recruiting, connect with college coaches, playing sports in college, get recruited for sports, NCAA recruiting, athletic scholarship, recruiting process, recruiting experts, sports recruiting, recruiting advice, recruiting tools, college coaches, college recruiters, college athlete, sports scholarships, NCAA recruiting, athletic recruiting, athletic scholarships, NCAA scholarships, sports scholarships, college sports recruiting, college athletic recruiting, college recruiting services, college athletic recruiting services, college sports recruiting services, college sports recruiting experts, how to get recruited to play college sports, NCAA transfer portal, how to get an athletic scholarship, how to get a college sports scholarship, sports recruiting, NCAA House Settlement, NCAA roster caps, colleges closing
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AuthorOur Founder, George White was a Head Coach at both the Division II and DIII levels and served as an assistant at the DI level. A former college athlete, he was Co-Captain of the Harvard basektball Team. His full bio can be found here: Archives
November 2025
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