A glance at enrollment following University of Hartford’s decision to drop from DI to DIII athletics
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (BVM) — The University of Hartford currently has 17 varsity sports on its roster — eight men’s and nine women’s. Although a Division I school — that won’t be the case for much longer. An official decision was made on May 6 to begin the process of transitioning athletics down to the Division III level.
“The University of Hartford owes so much to the generations of student-athletes and athletics staff who have added immeasurably to our community and are a source of pride for the University,” UHart President Gregory S. Woodward said in a statement which was posted by the Hartford Courant’s Alex Putterman on Twitter. “As we transition to this new model for Intercollegiate athletics in the coming years, I am energized by the opportunities we will have to support the success of all of our students, including our student-athletes.”
Although most student-athletes undoubtedly don’t view this as a positive change, the Hartford Hawks athletics program will begin to make immediate moves to initiate the drop. Putterman in his Twitter post also noted that the move is set to take place no later than Sept. 1, 2025. A big next step for the University is to submit a request to the NCAA to join DIII.
“Intercollegiate athletics has long been an integral part of the University of Hartford student experience and that will not change,” Board of Regents chair David Gordon said in a statement which was also posted by Putterman on Twitter. “At the same time, a move to Division III will allow the University to further strengthen the academic, co-curricular, and wellness experience for all students. While we know this decision will disappoint some members of our community, we remain confident that this shift is in the best long-term interests of the institution and all its students.”
The University’s enrollment numbers may have had a big impact on the decision to steer focus towards ‘strengthen[ing] the academic experience.’ Undergraduate enrollment at UHart has seen a steady decline over the past several years. There’s no doubt that higher faculty members have been having conversations for years about what needs to change.
According to UHart’s enrollment factbook, total Undergraduate enrollment has decreased by 12.3% from Fall 2016 to Fall 2020.
The steady decline shows that UHart as of fall 2020 had 637 fewer total undergraduates than it did just five fall semesters ago. The total direct cost of tuition and fees for the 2020-21 school year is $56,760. Although most students don’t pay anything close to the full tuition, the University could still be facing millions of dollars in losses.
For total graduate enrollment, UHart has seen an increase of over 400 students from the fall 2016 to fall 2020 semesters.
But of course, these enrollment numbers only show a small picture of what UHart’s finances look like, but the student population is a big factor. Time will only tell how both undergraduate and graduate numbers become affected as UHart shifts its money and focus towards academics.
Although this decision may have been building for several years now, the ultimate tipping point could have been COVID-19. The topic surrounding universities making big changes for the sake of staying afloat is nothing new. Schools, especially over the past year, have had to take a closer look at their budget since not as much money is being generated because of the pandemic.
For example, in April 2020 the Cincinnati Bearcats cut out their DI men’s soccer program after hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses and hundreds of college athletic programs have been cut since. Although UHart’s decision to go from DI to DIII may sound drastic to some, the devastating news is just not as shocking anymore during these times.
