How Small Schools Can Use Athletics to Boost Enrollment

May 23

By Clinton Shrout

Introduction

For small colleges, enrollment isn’t just a metric — it’s the scoreboard. When headcount drops, everything from tuition to team morale takes a hit. You can overhaul programs, rebrand your website, or hire a consultant. But one of the most direct and often overlooked strategies?

Athletics.

Not just as a recruiting tool — but as a full-on enrollment engine. If you're not leveraging sports strategically, you're missing one of the best opportunities to grow your campus and stabilize your bottom line.

Why Athletics Is More Than Just Game Day

Here’s the reality: in the NAIA, DIII, and even DII levels, athletic programs aren’t about ESPN appearances or March Madness dreams. They’re about:

Attracting mission-fit students
Filling dorms and dining halls
Creating energy and identity on campus

And more schools are starting to understand this. According to the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, the average DIII football roster carries 96 players. Many NAIA teams carry 100+. That’s one program accounting for 5–10% of a school’s entire undergrad enrollment.

Other programs — soccer, wrestling, track, volleyball — bring in 20–40 students each. Multiply that by 10–15 sports, and you're potentially adding 300–500 students without touching your academic catalog.

“Athletics isn’t a luxury — it’s a front door.”

The Enrollment Math That Makes It Work

Let’s be conservative:

Average net tuition revenue at small private schools: ~$17,000/year (NACUBO)
Add 150 student-athletes across 6–8 teams
That’s $2.55 million in tuition revenue — before housing, meals, or books

Sure, you’ll spend some on coaching, travel, and gear. But for schools that already have facilities or are looking to boost retention, this is one of the most scalable, repeatable investments you can make.

And many of the best-case examples weren’t traditional sports schools to begin with.

Case Studies: Schools That Did It Right

Siena Heights University (MI) added football in 2011. Enrollment jumped from 1,800 to 2,500 students by 2015 (Crain’s Detroit Business).
Keiser University (FL) built out 27 varsity programs, including swimming, golf, and wrestling, and attributes a large portion of its enrollment growth to athletics (KeiserU Athletics).
Ottawa University (AZ) used athletics as the foundation of an entirely new campus — and now supports 30+ varsity teams.

These aren’t D1 programs with national TV contracts. These are enrollment playbooks built around strategy, not spectacle.

It’s Not Just About the Athletes

Athletes are:

More likely to live on campus
More likely to stay enrolled year-to-year
Walking ambassadors for your school on social media

Every commitment graphic shared on Twitter, every team post on Instagram — it’s brand marketing you didn’t have to pay for.

Games bring families, friends, and future students to campus. Teams create community. And in a digital world, sports are one of the few things that still bring people together physically, face-to-face.

Final Thought

If you're running a campus under 3,000 students and you’re not treating athletics like an enrollment strategy, you’re already behind.

You don’t need a massive stadium or a million-dollar budget. You need vision. You need alignment between admissions, coaching staff, and student life. And you need to stop asking, “Can we afford to invest in sports?” and start asking:

“Can we afford not to?”

Clinton Shrout