University of Puerto Rico-Carolina Athletics

UPR-Carolina competes in NAIA athletics, which sits between NCAA Division I and Division III in terms of competitiveness and resources. The school fields 12 varsity sports with 129 total athletes, meaning about 5.4% of the 2,367 students participate in varsity athletics. The athletic department distributes $168,534 in scholarships across all sports. Women outnumber men on campus at nearly 65%, which likely influences the gender balance in athletics. As a regional campus of the larger UPR system, Carolina focuses more on academics and technical training than building a major sports culture. The NAIA level allows the school to offer some athletic scholarships while maintaining reasonable travel costs and competition against similarly-sized institutions throughout the Caribbean and southeastern United States.