Private colleges see increase in athlete enrollment
SPRING ARBOR, Mich. (WILX) - Spring Arbor University is home to the 3-time national champion women’s soccer team with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Ariana Stoltzfus is a member of the team and says Division 1 schools don’t only build champs.
“You have to be division one, you have to go to a big school or else it doesn’t matter and i think that’s absolutely not true. You can compete at whatever level, there’s great players at every level,” said Stoltzfus.
In 2014, Spring Arbor University had more than 1400 full-time students enrolled on campus which has declined to over 800 as of 2020.
Athletic Director Jason Crist says 50% of students on campus are athletes, which is a major increase since he’s been with the university.
“I’ve been here 24 years, so I started back around 2000 and have seen it grow from under 200 athletes to our number this year is 423 athletes. So, we have doubled since the time I’ve been here,” said Crist.
Crist says the variety of sports teams and improvements to faculties offer prospective students the feel of a larger college with support like family.
“When you come to a soccer game, it feels like you’re at a Big 10 soccer game because the facility is nice and there’s a lot of student support and it’s loud but you’re on a small campus where people know you and love you,” said Crist.
Along with coaches like Ryan Marken committing to the mission of not only growing athletes but professionals leading to careers off the field.
“They understand how to work well with people, they understand what it means to be a part of a team. All of the above and I think when corporations look to hire student-athletes there’s a little bit of advantage there for them,” said Marken.
Whether it’s your love for the game or desire to learn. You just need to be in it, to win it.
Spring Arbor offers traditional and non-traditional college sports teams like bowling. Offering prospective students more ways to play. The university says they will continue to add more sports in the future.
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