Division III athletics have become more then high school athletes holding onto a dream and competing at the non-scholarship level of the National collegiate athletic association. From 2004 to 2012 the average cost of having a division III athletics program has gone up 200% (Fulks, 2013). From 2004 until 2012 the average cost per athlete has also gone up, from $3,500 to $5,800. This money does not even touch the levels that are being spent in Division I, but Division III athletics are on an upward trend of spending. The commitment to athletics in Division III has lead to money being spent on new sports and recreation facilities. So much so that it’s been put to question if there is an “arms race” to who can build the biggest and…show more content… The point of facilities has been to give the “wow” factor to visiting prospects. In almost all cases the facilities at a college will be better then the high school or junior college the student athlete is coming from. It is also believed that having better facilities will directly correlate with recruiting success, especially against rival colleges. The belief that new facilities bring in better recruits was tested by the research into the subject. Although new facilities did attract more initial interest from recruits (Schneider, 2012) the final decision about which school to attend came down to other different factors. In the study of “The impact of Athletic Faculties on the Recruitment of Student Athletes” college athletic prospects were asked why they choose the college they did. With factors such as playing time, location, tradition, education, facilities, teammates, and school color to name a few, the results were as follows. Non-Scholarship athletes that had no option to receive finical aid from the school they planned on attending, like the ones in division III, had top five factors of 1) playing time, 2) social life, 3) Education, 4) Location and 5) Financial Aid. Not until after the top ten did weight room and locker rooms came into effect. In another study it was shown that scholarship athletes in Division I were motivated by completion and achievement, while in division III the main motivator to play was the “experience” or the social
