In recent months, three universities have announced that they will be dropping a number of sports programs due to huge budget shortages. These include Sonoma State in January, which declared it was eliminating its entire Division II athletics program due to a nearly $24 million budget deficit, San Francisco State, which eliminated three of its 13 athletic teams (men’s baseball, men’s soccer, and women’s indoor track and field) in order to save up to $1 million a year, and most recently, the Academy of Art University (also in SF), which also plans to discontinue its intercollegiate sports program at the end of the academic year.
Starting with Sonoma, Campus President Emily Cutrer made it clear early this year that the 2025 spring sports would finish out their season, but afterwards would unfortunately be coming to an end. She stated that “62 total campus positions were being eliminated — including 46 on the faculty — and six entire academic departments were being closed” (SFGATE). The campus is also refraining from hiring until further notice.
This decision not only greatly impacts the student athletes who’ve dedicated themselves to their respective sports, but also the coaches and faculty members losing their jobs to this unfortunate event. The sports cut consisted of the school’s seven women’s sports teams, which were basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track and field, and volleyball, along with four men’s teams, including baseball, basketball, golf, and soccer. Rebekah Bradley, a member of the Sonoma State University’s Cheer & Stunt team, gave some insight to her sport of choice, as well as voiced her opinion about the cuts and how it’s affecting the school as a whole.
“As of right now, only club sports will continue. Thankfully cheer is a club sport so we aren’t getting cut. I love cheer and have been doing it for 5 years now. It allows me to keep using the skills I learned in my 9 years of gymnastics and to create a community where us girls can have fun, learn, and get stronger together.”
“It’s important to have athletics in college because it allows people to continue growing in their sport and come to college looking forward to something other than solely academics. It also helps students expand their horizons and de-stress. It’s like an escape, and I know it’s really helped me. A lot of students worked really hard to get to SSU on scholarships and now their opportunity has been taken from them. Due to these cuts, many people are also transferring to other colleges, which means they’re losing the friendships they’ve made here and the school they chose to attend.”
Sonoma State has competed in the NCAA with men’s basketball since 1964, earning the Seawolves 3 Division II national championships (women’s soccer in 1990, men’s soccer in 2002 and men’s golf in 2009), making the loss even more devastating as it marks the end of an era.
“I know this is unsettling and difficult news for our campus community. I am keenly aware of its human impact, and how individuals, families, relationships, and communities are affected by such news,” stated Curter in her note.
According to her, the budget deficit has become a larger issue over the years because enrollment at the campus has dropped 38% since 2015 when it peaked. While there have been several attempts to fix this in the past two years, the problem has only increased. The school reportedly anticipates saving $3.7 million from discontinuing athletics while saving $8 million in reduced institutional costs, $3.8 million from the reorganization of academics, and $3.3 million from the hiring freeze (SFGATE).
However, Bradley believes this is a big mistake on admins end that will ultimately have an even greater effect on the school, claiming that “a different decision could have been made rather than cutting the athletic programs. This affects everyone negatively because for years to come this is what people will remember and honestly, I don’t see SSU having much of a future anymore.” Many first year students like her agree, fearing the school will not do so well in coming years because a huge portion of why the university has so many attendees is solely due to its strong athletic reputation.
Fortunately, Sonoma State University has promised to honor any athletic scholarships for their original duration if the athletes wish to remain on campus for the following school year. On the other hand, it won’t place any restrictions on the transfer portal for the students who do not, and they will do everything in their power to help their former athletes find a new place to call home.
And they’re not the only ones. Following their lead, Lynn Mahoney, President of San Francisco State University sent out a note on the SFSU website on March 6th officially declaring that they would also need to make deep budget cuts to accommodate for the deficits they were experiencing as well. The Athletics Task Force, which was formed to address the budget shortfall in athletics and formulate a plan to create a sustainable plan for Gator Athletics at SF State, recommended that the school reduce their number of NCAA teams. Therefore, Mahoney made the difficult decision to eliminate three teams: Women’s Indoor Track & Field, Baseball, and Men’s Soccer as of July 1, 2025. Similarly to SSU, SF maintained that they will stay true to their commitment to their existing scholarships, and will also assist those who wish to seek out alternative opportunities and transfer elsewhere to continue playing their chosen sport.
And finally, the Academy of Art University (also located in SF) explained on Friday last week their decision to cut athletic programs, which will affect 13 NCAA Division II teams across men’s and women’s sports and 36 of the schools 1,262 employees. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “This move is part of the university’s efforts to address financial challenges and reassess its priorities.” Like both of the other establishments, and in accordance with NCAA regulations and AAU’s policy, all scholarship-eligible student-athletes will have their scholarships honored in full.
While nothing else has been confirmed, other California universities have also faced notable budget pressures and have considered and/or made cuts to their own athletic programs as well. A few examples include Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State Northridge. Which other colleges could be the next to drop? For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.
