A ruling from the NCAA will allow the recently merged universities to keep their separate athletic programs moving forward.
Clarion, California, and Edinboro are all merging into one institution that will be known as Western Pennsylvania University. However, the NCAA yesterday said that students will be able to continue to compete at their current program.
The same approval was given for Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield in the east.
This was seen by the institutions as the last major hurdle to cross after the merger. Many officials believed that maintaining individual athletic programs was a crucial enrollment strategy to keeping students.