Sonoma State University, located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, has announced that it will eliminate its entire NCAA Division II athletics department as being eliminated as part of a sweeping campus-wide cost-cutting measure with a larger-than-expected budget deficit looming.
A letter posted on the school’s website from interim campus president Emily Cutrer says that the school is facing a $23.9 million deficit, bigger than the projected $21 million deficit. Among the other cuts include 46 faculty cuts, closing of six entire academic departments, and a campus-wide hiring freeze.
The school’s athletics department will cease competition at the end of the spring season. Sonoma State has competed in the NCAA since 1964 and has won three NCAA Division II national championships (women’s soccer in 1990, men’s soccer in 2002, and men’s golf in 2009).
As has been the story at smaller colleges across the country, Cutrer blamed the budget deficit on shrinking enrollment. The student body has declined by 38% from its peak in 2015. In fall 2024, SSU had 5,784 students enrolled, with 5,191 of those being undergrads. That alone was a drop of almost 900 students from a year prior.
The cut to the athletics department is projected to save $3.7 million, with the total savings from the new austerity measures estimated at $20.1 million.
While the school didn’t support varsity swimming, diving, or water polo*, it is at least the second college we’ve seen do this in recent years after D1 St. Francis Brooklyn cut their athletics program in 2023. While there is a lot of fear about D1 cuts coming post House settlement (Cleveland State recently announced cuts of wrestling, women’s softball, and women’s golf), it is a canary in the coalmine for small colleges that are closing their doors at a record rate.
Sonoma State cut its women’s water polo program in 2020.
The pressure faced by smaller schools is caused by wholly different factors than those faced by D1 schools in the wake of the House settlement – including a Power 4 swimming program rumored to be on the chopping block at season’s end. Smaller D2 programs like Sonoma State and D2 swim programs like Emory & Henry continue to face budget crises driven outside of the athletics departments that are forcing spending cuts.
The school reported 110 men and 133 women on their varsity athletics teams this season. Even if all of those student-athletes were paying full-rate tuition (they aren’t), it would still barely cover the annual deficit of the athletics department.
Among the things that the school is famous for is baseball pitcher Marika Lyszczyk, who in 2020 became the first woman to play catcher in a men’s collegiate baseball game and is the first Canadian woman to play NCAA baseball.
The school says that it will honor athletic scholarships for those student-athletes who wish to remain at the school.
In a shocking turn of events, Sonoma State University has announced the elimination of its entire athletics department, including all NCAA Division II sports teams. This decision comes as a result of budget constraints and the need to reallocate resources to other areas of the university.
The move has sparked outrage among students, alumni, and fans of Sonoma State athletics, many of whom have expressed their disappointment and sadness over the loss of their beloved sports teams. The decision will affect a total of 14 sports programs, including basketball, soccer, and track and field.
Sonoma State University officials have stated that they will work with affected student-athletes to help them transfer to other schools or continue their athletic careers elsewhere. Despite this, the news has left a dark cloud hanging over the university’s campus, as students and staff come to terms with the end of an era for Sonoma State athletics.
As the university moves forward with this controversial decision, it remains to be seen how it will impact the school’s reputation and overall culture. Only time will tell what the future holds for Sonoma State University and its former athletes who will now have to find new homes for their athletic talents.
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NCAA Division II, Sonoma State University, athletics department, budget cuts, sports programs, college athletics, student athletes, university decision, sports teams eliminated
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