Collegiate Consulting Presents Feasibility Report to MSU Denver’s Board of Trustees

DENVER (March 14, 2019) – On Monday, March 11th Collegiate Consulting presented the findings of its Feasibility Study to the MSU Denver Board of Trustees.  The presentation was the final step of the Collegiate Consulting process, which included the submission of the 156-page feasibility report to the University at the end of December.

MSU Denver retained Collegiate Consulting in October to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for Division I transition as well as provide analysis and recommendations for regaining its standing as one of the premier Division II institutions in the country. The study provides a detailed Division I overview and compares MSU Denver to the Western Athletic Conference and Summit League members.  Within Division II, the comparison is to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Learfield Director’s Cup Division II Top-25 institutions. Key elements presented included:

·         NCAA Division I guidelines

·         Institutional comparison

·         Sports participation

·         Sports operating budget

·         Revenue line-item analysis

·         Expense line-item analysis

·         Academic performance

·         Administrative staffing

·         Administrative salaries

·         Coaching staffing

·         Coaching salaries

·         Facility Comparison

·         Division I – Expense Pro Forma

·         Division I – Revenue Pro Forma

The Division II/RMAC analysis included these key elements and benchmarking:

·         RMAC Administrative Salaries

·         RMAC Coaching Salaries

·         RMAC Sports Operating Budgets

·         Directors’ Cup Top 25 Sports Operating Budgets

·         Administrative Recommendations

·         Division II – Expense Pro Forma

MSU Denver’s athletic program has enjoyed a rich history of athletic success with four Division II national championships between 2000 and 2006, and a nationally-ranked top-30 athletic program from 2000-to-2013.  In the past four years, the programs average ranking has fallen to an average of #155 within the Director’s Cup. 

The presentation format included WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd highlighting the benefits of Division I and WAC membership; a third-party speaking on behalf of the RMAC, presenting the benefits of the RMAC and Division II and Collegiate Consulting presenting the findings and results from the four-month feasibility study.

Top-line findings from the presentations, included a projected seven-year Division I pro-forma which would increase MSU Denver’s athletic budget by approximately $4 million dollars per annum to $9.27 million by 2024-25.  This would include significant increases in scholarships, operating budgets and staffing levels. 

The projected pro-forma to remain Division II and strengthen its financial position with the goal of regaining its elite top-30 status would increase the athletic budget to $6.4 million by 2024-25 with incremental increases along the same line items, as the RMAC benchmarking indicated that MSU Denver ranked in the top-third in most comparative metrics.

The feasibility study marks the fifth divisional feasibility study conducted by Collegiate Consulting in the past 10 months and the 25th report completed since the company’s formation.