St. Francis (pa) Dropping from D1 to D3

[Nashville Cat]

St Francis is an historic program and it makes you wonder if other low/mid majors will follow suit? Revenue has to be an issue along with declining opportunities for NCAA post season.

[Da Coach]

I expect more lower D1 programs will be doing this. I'm surprised more haven't already. There is no way many of the lower D1 schools can compete in this environment without huge infusions of money, especially when the academic part of so many colleges are hurting financially.
Saint Francis University Announces Move from NCAA Division I Athletics to Division III Athletics - https://sfuathletics.com/news/2025/3...athletics.aspx

[Stryker]

I expect the overall D-1 programs to fall to about 150 max in the next 10-20 years. I know that seems crazy to think that almost 200 schools could drop down, but I think it will happen. And the impact will have nothing to do with the changes in how the sports world works. It will be AI & technology driven. We face massive societal disruptions over the next couple of decades as most white collar jobs will end up being automated. Higher education is already starting fail as the debt bubble reaches extreme levels. I predict most schools are going to see large declines in enrollment over the next couple of decades which will result in many D1 programs being unable to afford larger sports programs and the costs that go along with them. I think a lot of universities will cease to exist as tech companies start offering education via AI tutors along with VR etc.