At most institutions, track and field can function as the redheaded stepchild of athletic programs because these sports do not draw the revenue nor get the crowds often associated with college football or basketball. Nevertheless, there are multiple correlations common among all college student athletes. Primarily, all student athletes face the…

An interview with Senator Bill Bradley (Democrat of New Jersey) covers such issues as the legislator's candid confrontation of racial issues, racial bias and education, higher education's role in social change, the value of campus racial and ethnic caucuses, and payment of revenue-generating college athletes. (MSE)

Educational institutions must obtain revenue streams in addition to federal and state funding in order to provide students with a quality college experience. Student-athletes who participate in civic engagement efforts may entice the community members to reciprocate by supporting the athletic department through a variety of methods including: game…

"Unwinding Madness" is the most comprehensive examination to date of how the NCAA has lost its way in the governance of intercollegiate athletics--and why it is incapable of achieving reform and must be replaced. The NCAA has placed commercial success above its responsibilities to protect the academic primacy, health and well-being of…

This study uses preliminary data to compare college student-athlete graduation rates before and after the passage of National Collegiate Athletic Association Proposition 48, which took effect in 1986 to reform perceived abuses in college revenue sports. The data came from entering freshmen in 1984, 1985, and 1986. The population centered only on…

Now that members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have voted to approve a sweeping, if not radical, proposal giving the five largest athletic conferences "autonomy" to establish new governance rules regarding a compensation pay package for the recruitment of athletes, some important public policy concerns need to be…

This study examines the current state of volleyball in the USA against a heuristic model for high performance sport integrated with mass participation. A questionnaire was utilized for the following elements of the model: talent development; advanced athlete support; training centers; competitions; intellectual services; partnerships with…

Due to improper contact between agents and players as well as agent infractions that have occurred and hit universities, states and colleges are increasingly turning to the courts to help protect the integrity of big-time college athletics. Universities such as Oregon now hold "agent days" to educate players about appropriate conduct. States are…

The exploitation of college athletes has been a topic of controversy within American higher education for over half of a century. Especially in the revenue-generating sports of men's basketball and football, critics have highlighted the surplus gains expropriated by colleges and universities on the backs of these young men, who are…

In this essay, Jennifer Light examines the ideal versus the reality of the "unproductive student," the young person who puts off work in favor of schooling to develop their human capital for later workforce participation. The economic status of student activities has been the source of recent controversy with college athletes and…

This qualitative study focused on the experiences of seven non-native-English-speaking international student-athletes at an NCAA Division I, large, public, research institution. The experiences of the participants detailed their time prior to attending the institution, while enrolled, and plans after graduation. While previous literature on this…

The purpose of this study was to explore participants' academic experiences, their academic motivation and the role of peers on their academic achievement. Participants (N = 27) were comprised of high-achieving African American male student-athletes from four academically rigorous American universities on the West Coast. A majority of the…

This phenomenological study sought to address the overarching research questions: What are the costs and benefits of participation in Division I college sports? How does participation in Division I college sports prepare student-athletes for life after college? A qualitative methodology was selected to provide richer data than that which could be…

Ailing academic performances of Black male student athletes have been an impetus for a search of recourse by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Amid the volume of these academic underperformances, particularly in revenue-generating sports, there are Black male student athletes who achieve a level of success in the classroom that rivals…

This study explores the relationship between student athletes and faculty and the impact of specific forms of student athlete and faculty interaction on academic achievement. Specifically, this study examines selected faculty interaction measures of academic achievement among student athletes in the revenue-producing sports of men's basketball and…