MELBOURNE, FLA.— Florida Institute of Technology announced today that it will discontinue three varsity sports programs at the conclusion of the current spring season: Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis and Women's Golf. The reduction affects 25 student-athletes, 10 men and 15 women. Athletics leadership met personally with the affected student-athletes earlier today to share the news and answer questions.

Florida Tech Athletics Director Bill Jurgens said that this move will allow the university to better focus its finite athletic resources across the remaining 18 varsity sports.

"This was a very difficult decision for the university, given the great respect we all have for the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes and their coaches," Jurgens said. "The student-athletes affected by this decision are our priority. All scholarship-eligible student-athletes impacted by this reduction will have their athletic scholarships honored for the duration of their undergraduate enrollment at Florida Tech."

The university considered many factors in deciding which varsity sports would be discontinued, Jurgens said, including the state of available facilities, squad size, and potential to be competitive in the future.

"We are proud of all of our student-athletes, and will work with them through this transition," Jurgens said.
 
About Florida Institute of Technology
Celebrating 60 years of relentlessly pursuing greatness, Florida Tech was founded in 1958 at the dawn of the Space Race that would soon define the Atlantic coast of Florida and captivate the nation. Now the premier private technological university in the Southeast, Florida Tech is a Tier 1 Best National University in U.S. News & World Report and one of just nine schools in Florida lauded by the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Ranked among the top 5 percent of 18,000 degree-granting institutions worldwide in the 2018-19 World University Rankings and named one of just 14 U.S.-based Golden Age universities in 2018 by Times Higher Education, Florida Tech is one of the nation's Best Value Colleges as determined by Forbes in 2018. Florida Tech offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in aeronautics and aviation, engineering, computing and cybersecurity, business, science and mathematics, psychology, education and communication. Learn more at www.fit.edu.