College Sports: Athletes Navigate the Move Between Division III and Top-Tier Programs

McKena Ramos, a senior from Sheboygan, is currently a member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's track and cross-country teams. He arrived there from UW-Oshkosh, a Division III school where he was recruited as a track athlete. His time at Oshkosh was highly successful, but his coaches did not foresee his level of achievement.

Eamon McKenna, who coaches track and cross-country at UW-Oshkosh, described his initial assessment of Ramos. "When we were recruiting him, I didn't think he would be able to come in and win a national championship as a freshman," McKenna said. "We knew he was good and we knew he was a little bit under the radar." Ramos became a five-time All-American and two-time national champion in a single season.

The idea to compete at a higher level was Ramos's own. Before the indoor national meet, he privately decided that winning a title as a freshman would be a reason to consider transferring to a Division I school. "I didn't think it was going to happen, I just made a little bet with myself," he said. He went on to win the indoor 800-meter title and the outdoor 1500-meter title, then transferred to UW-Madison.

Since joining the Badgers, Ramos has contributed to both their track and cross-country teams. He said the increased competition has been beneficial. "The biggest difference athletically is the competition level; everyone is on your level and up," he said. He also noted that the travel and the chance to compete on the highest stage are significant factors in his choice.

Ramos's story is not an isolated one. Moving from Division III to the Big Ten conference has happened with increasing frequency in recent years. Every school within the Big Ten conference has at least one athlete on its rosters who transferred from a Division III program. This includes two Badger football players, Ricky Finco and Ryan Ramczyk, who both made the same jump as Ramos from Wisconsin's Division III schools.

However, this upward move does not work for all athletes. Emma Paulson, a freshman on UW-Madison's swim team, decided that the top level of college competition was not the right environment for her and transferred to the University of St. Thomas, a Division III school in Minnesota. "I realized that people are different and have different fits, it might work for them, but it wasn't the right fit for me," she said.

Paulson's career at St. Thomas was a decorated one, ending with three individual national championships and nine individual All-American designations. She said her performance times were at Division I standards, but she preferred the culture at Division III. "Swimming DI, it kind of takes over your life in a sense, but DIII [is] just a part of your life," she said.

One significant difference between the divisions is the level of resources. Division III institutions do not provide athletic scholarships, and their facilities are generally smaller in scale compared to those at Division I schools, which typically invest more heavily in programs and infrastructure. Ramos said that while his running workouts were largely the same, Madison offered access to training facilities like ice baths that Oshkosh did not. He also credited tutoring at the Fetzer Center and the ability to take exams while traveling for his academic success. Paulson, by contrast, said she is held to the same academic standards as non-athletes at St. Thomas and has no designated academic services.

Both Ramos and Paulson have stated they would make their respective choices again. Ramos said he was "absolutely happy," because competing for Madison had been his dream since middle school. McKenna offered some perspective for athletes considering a similar transition, saying, "If you stand out in DIII, you're going to have opportunities." The key question, he added, is whether an athlete can replicate the level of success they have achieved at their current institution.

The decision involves a number of factors, from competition level and resources to personal fit and academic support. For athletes like Ramos, the move to a Division I program provided the higher stage he sought. For others, like Paulson, the answer was to find a program where the culture was a better match for her own priorities. Both paths reflect a choice about where an athlete can best pursue their goals.