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One of my favorite annual posts is finding out which schools are adding lacrosse for the upcoming season. We all know the Division I programs starting up, but there’s also plenty of schools at the other levels.
This year, institutions from Division I all the way down to the NAIA are getting set to begin a new era with the addition of at least one lacrosse team to their list of sponsored athletic programs. Let’s see who’ll we’ll be welcoming this year (h/t The Growth Blog).
2020 New College Lacrosse Programs
| School Name | State | Gender | League/Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| School Name | State | Gender | League/Division |
| University of Akron | Ohio | Women's | Division I |
| Caldwell University | New Jersey | Men's | Division II |
| Davenport University | Michigan | Men's | Division II |
| Lewis University | Illinois | Men's | Division II |
| Lander University | South Carolina | Men's and Women's | DIvision II |
| Quincy University | Illinois | Men's and Women's | Division II |
| Ashland University | Ohio | Women's | Division II |
| Lynn University | Florida | Women's | Division II |
| The College of Saint Rose | New York | Women's | Division II |
| Upper Iowa University | Iowa | Women's | Division II |
| Allegheny College | Pennsylvania | Men's | Division III |
| Illinois Tech | Illinois | Men's | Division III |
| LaGrange College | Georgia | Men's | Division III |
| Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | Massachusetts | Men's | Division III |
| University of Saint Joseph | Connecticut | Men's | Division III |
| Cal Lutheran University | California | Women's | Division III |
| Clark University | Massachusetts | Women's | Division III |
| Eastern Mennonite University | Virginia | Women's | Division III |
| Mount Aloysius College | Pennsylvania | Women's | Division III |
| University of Wisconsin - La Crosse | Wisconsin | Women's | Division III |
| SUNY New Paltz | New York | Men's | Division III |
| Midland University | Nebraska | Men's | NAIA |
| Morningside College | Iowa | Men's and Women's | NAIA |
| William Penn University | Iowa | Men's and Women's | NAIA |
| Culver-Stockton College | Missouri | Women's | NAIA |
| Taylor University | Indiana | Women's | NAIA |
Here were some interesting stats:
- 14 of the 26 schools fielding programs are starting men’s teams, with 10 of those 14 solely starting men’s teams.
- 16 of the 26 schools fielding programs are starting women’s teams, with 12 of those 16 solely starting women’s teams.
- Four schools are fielding both men’s and women’s teams.
- Divisions II and III have 11 new programs beginning in 2019. The NAIA has seven and Division I only has one.
- In the next two years, three Division I schools will be adding women’s lacrosse. Youngstown State is starting their program in 2021, while Eastern Michigan and Pittsburgh will begin in 2022. The MAC will begin to sponsor women’s lacrosse in 2021. It also looks like Charlotte will be adding women’s lacrosse in the very near future, although an official announcement has yet to be released.
- There are no Division I men’s programs being added in the near future.
- This year in Division I, there will be 75 men’s teams (LIU and Merrimack are moving up from Division II) and 118 women’s teams (Akron is new, while Merrimack is moving up from Division II). Division II will have 73 men’s teams and 112 women’s teams. Division III will have 248 men’s teams and 295 women’s teams.
- In total, there are 396 total men’s NCAA teams and 525 total women’s NCAA teams for a total of 921 programs.
30 total programs join the college lacrosse ranks in 2020, the same number as last year. Not a surprise, but the smaller schools are growing rapidly. Only one Division I school is starting a new program this year.
As I mentioned above, there hasn’t been a Division I school that has announced plans to start a men’s lacrosse program. There’ll be 75 this season and probably next year. As for 2022 and the next few years after that, we have no clue. There’s plenty of hurdles to overcome to add more D1 men’s programs, such as Title IX and the cost of starting and maintaining a program.