An Associated Press report chronicled recent instances where sports have created “enormous problems” for several presidents of major research institutions and the opinion of outgoing University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp that “presidents should step aside and let athletic directors handle the job.” The article noted the Knight Commission’s role in establishing the…
A USA Today analysis of college athletics finances found an increased use of subsidies (financial support from student fees, school, or state government) to support college athletics programs, despite a climate of tight budgets throughout higher education. The report by USA Today found only 23 of 228 athletics departments at NCAA Division I public schools…
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and former University of Maryland All-American Tom McMillen co-wrote an opinion piece, published in USA Today, that criticizes the current compensation and incentive packages for football and basketball coaches and calls for “creating a healthier balance between academics and athletics in our universities.” Duncan and McMillen commend the NCAA for…
The Raleigh News and Observer published an editorial calling for changes in governance of college sports. The editorial questions whether the NCAA is up to the task given current trends in college football and basketball “toward expansion and the slide toward professionalism that weakens the sports’ collegiate appeal.” The piece references current efforts underway with…
A four-part series published by the Greensboro News-Record focused on the impact of massive amounts of revenue on the operation of major college sports programs. By noting the impact of a recent academic scandal, the series cautioned about potential issues when “athletics programs cause their schools to sacrifice some of their scruples for a chance…
An article published by Diverse Issues in Higher Education discussed the current economic landscape impacting decisions by leaders at NCAA Division I colleges and universities to change athletic conference affiliations. The article considered research presented at the last meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics as a framework to understand why institutions search for…
The athletic departments of most public colleges and universities competing in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I sports typically spend three to six times as much per athlete as their institutions spend to educate their students, according to a new report by the Delta Cost Project at American Institutes for Research (AIR). The report,…
The Birmingham News reported that NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision schools will each receive $300,000 annually from the new playoff format if its football team’s Academic Progress Rate score is at least 930. According to the NCAA, a 930 score indicates that the team is on track to graduate 50 percent of its players. The academic…
The New York Times reported on recent moves by colleges to spend millions to replace their football coaching staff — moves that will result in reduced funding to academics and other sport programs. The Times reported on the decision at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville to cancel the $18 million transfer the athletics department had pledged…
Presidents and conference commissioners overseeing the new college football playoff announced a unanimous agreement to “share revenue, for the first time in college football history, based on academic performance as part of the funding formula.” USA Today reported that 10 percent of the total playoff revenue “will be tied to teams’ Academic Performance Rates (APR).…