Pepperdine will eliminate women’s swimming and diving and men’s track at the conclusion of the academic year, reducing its total sport sponsorship from 16 to 14.

The school, which cited budget cuts as the reason for the decision, will honor existing scholarship agreements for swimming and diving student-athletes through their eligibility. Track student-athletes will have the opportunity to continue to focus on cross country in the fall. The school will assist all student-athletes who wish to transfer.

“It is with great regret that we came to this conclusion,” Pepperdine Director of Athletics John Watson said. “The last thing that we want to do is to reduce opportunities for our students at Pepperdine, but the current economic realities dictate that budget cuts must be made. We reviewed each of the athletics programs that we offer, taking into account such things as conference membership, level of competition and financial impact to the institution, and this is what had to be done.”

Neither of the eliminated sports competes in the West Coast Conference or the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.