(03-07-2019 05:31 PM)MidWestMidMajor Wrote:  

(03-07-2019 04:44 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  Lindenwood-Belleville from NAIA who plays football.

That's a surprise. LU-B is a perfect NAIA school. It is a 15 years old branch campus, only becoming a separately accredited school in 2011. It has an enrollment of 1300 full time students. And it offers 33 varsity sports according to wiki. Many NAIA schools use sports to boost student enrollment: the school offers a $2000 scholarship and the student pays $15,000 in tuition. LU-B is in a NAIA conference that fits them well. So why the move??

D3 means no scholarships. Is this a cost savings measure? I understand that being an NCAA school means more paperwork and administration. Often they hire someone to manage the extra NCAA requirements. Do they think being NCAA D3 is more attractive (enhances their brand) more than being NAIA? I hope this is a good step for them.

I've been impressed with LU-B's growth bringing higher education to a community that didn't have any other 4 year schools. There is only 1 other 4 year school in the county (McKendree) and its tuition is 70% higher than LU-B.

AMC is pretty spread out from Missouri to Arkansas to Tennessee. The SLIAC would be the logical fit in D3. It's basically all in the St. Louis area or about an hour and half away. Outside of one school in Louisville, the farthest trip would be to Iowa Wesleyan in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.