This study provides the first nationally representative analysis of student loan debt among scholarship student-athletes at four-year colleges and universities. Using data from the 2020 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), it explores two central questions: how much loan debt scholarship student-athletes accumulated in the 2019–2020 academic year, and which institutional and personal characteristics significantly predicted borrowing behaviors. Contrary to popular assumptions that athletic scholarships eliminate student debt, results revealed scholarship student-athletes accrued an average debt of 4,321 annually, with borrowers averaging nearly8,852. Regression analyses identified significant predictors of borrowing behaviors, including race, Pell Grant status, institutional control, selectivity, and scholarship coverage. Black student-athletes and Pell Grant recipients were notably more likely to borrow, while students attending private nonprofit and less selective institutions faced higher borrowing probabilities. Also, each incremental increase in the percentage of college costs covered by athletic scholarships significantly reduced borrowing. Implications of the study emphasize the need for targeted financial literacy programs and financial support strategies tailored specifically to scholarship student-athletes, particularly focusing on historically marginalized groups and students attending institutions with limited financial resources.

Faculty-led no-confidence votes against college presidents have increased over the past decade. These votes often aim to create conditions that lead to the president's departure. In this study, I used event history analysis to investigate the influence of faculty-led no-confidence votes on the tenure of college presidents. The analysis reveals that nearly 70% of presidents leave their positions within four semesters of a no-confidence vote. The study further explores the influence of various factors, including institutional and presidential characteristics, on the likelihood of presidential departure after no-confidence votes. The results indicate that student enrollment size is the only significant predictor, with smaller institutions more likely to experience leadership turnover following a vote. The study concludes that no-confidence votes are a powerful tool for facilitating presidential change across diverse institutional types. These findings have important implications for faculty governance bodies and boards of trustees, highlighting the need for strategic planning in response to such votes.

Although name, image, and likeness policy officially changed on July 1, 2021, actions leading up to this policy modification provide insight into the desires and perspectives of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Feeling pressure from individual states and federal legislators, the NCAA engaged in discussion regarding name, image, and likeness in Fall of 2019. In response to newly introduced name, image, and likeness policy changes, the NCAA listed their official statements on the Taking Actions: Name, Image and Likeness webpage. These statements ( n = 10) were analyzed using critical discourse analysis methodology underpinned with a Foucaultian perspective. Using critical discourse analysis, we extrapolated three overarching themes related to power dynamics: (a) Establishing Control While Undercutting Oppositional Power, (b) Power Shifts Away from NCAA, and (c) Power Reinforcement. We conclude by discussing the importance of examining discourse within organizations and implications for policy and practice.

In 2015, 65 universities in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I autonomous conferences changed their scholarship policy by allowing universities to give student-athletes cost of attendance stipends. While student-athletes welcomed this policy change, many people within the higher education community felt the policy change would lead to higher costs for the general student body. This paper provides the results of a difference-in-differences estimation designed to examine if the 2015 NCAA student-athlete scholarship policy change correlated with higher university-published estimated cost of attendance. The findings show a positive, statistically significant relationship between the policy change and estimated student cost of attendance.

Guarantee games are among the most important revenue streams for historically Black college and university (HBCU) intercollegiate athletics departments. Some scholars, however, have critiqued these games and even questioned their legality. This study examined the contracts of guarantee games in men’s basketball to assess whether HBCUs and non-HBCUs are equally compensated for their participation in these games. The findings point to the existence of a basketball “Black tax” where HBCUs are not given equal compensation for their participation in men’s college basketball guarantee games. The authors discuss the implications of this inequality along with recommendations for future research.

Many in the higher education community criticize the millions of dollars in financial allocations given to intercollegiate athletics departments by universities on the premise that when universities have to provide more allocation money to athletics, student costs increase. Evidence supporting this argument, however, is largely anecdotal. This study used fixed effects regression analyses to explore whether year to year changes in university funds allocated to athletics lead to higher student costs. Our findings call into question the argument that rising athletics allocations are a significant direct driver of student costs.

The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) database and the USA Today NCAA athletics department finance database are two of the most commonly used databases for scholars, policy makers, and other constituents interested in studying the economics of college athletics. Many in the higher education community, however, question the validity of these databases. This study used Benford’s Law of First Digits as a tool for spotting irregularities in EADA and USA Today college athletics financial data. After reviewing 5 years of data, the findings show that while there was some slight deviation from Benford’s Law, EADA and USA Today data largely conformed to the expectations of Benford’s Law.

This study used growth curve modeling to estimate the growth trajectory of mandatory student athletics fees at public NCAA Division I universities from 2004–2016. We specifically focused on three measures of athletics fees; total athletics fees, athletics fees per FTE, and athletics fees as a percentage of total student costs. We found that in general the growth trajectory of athletics fees was positive, but that the rate of growth has declined over the years. We also found that on average less than 5% of student costs are directly attributable to athletics fees and that the growth trajectory of athletics fees differs significantly based on NCAA Division I subdivision affiliation. These findings have implications for policymakers and commentators interested in the role athletics fees play in college student costs.

Non-tenure track faculty members (NTTF) constitute what has been referred to by scholars as the new faculty majority. The growing numbers of NTTF have led to debates about the role they should play in shared governance. Currently, however, an overall lack of empirical knowledge exists regarding the status of their involvement in institutional governance. Using data from highest research activity doctoral universities, this study investigated current standards related to NTTF eligibility for election to institution-wide faculty senates. We also explored what these faculty governance standards and criteria reveal about the status and position of NTTF within the professoriate.

Using nationally representative data from the 2010 NCAA Growth, Opportunities, Aspirations and Learning of Students in college (GOALS) survey, this study examines whether student-athletes’ cross-racial interactions correlate with their college satisfaction. Our findings suggest a small but statistically significant correlation between cross-racial interactions and satisfaction, but this relationship was partial mediated by the student-athlete perceptions of team inclusiveness culture. Findings and implications are discussed.

We examined a student subgroup often absent from diversity research: student-athletes. We explored whether intercollegiate athletic teams are promoting an open and inclusive environment and whether creating such an environment leads to more frequent and more positive cross-racial interactions. Findings reveal that overall, coaches appear to be promoting open and inclusive environments within their teams. A more inclusive team environment was found to be a significant positive predictor of the frequency of student-athlete cross-racial interactions and student-athlete feelings about such interactions.

College rankings have become a ubiquitous part of American higher education. As the popularity of rankings has increased, so have the number of research studies attempting to better understand the impact rankings have on college/university admissions outcomes. In the past, these studies have focused almost exclusively on elite national universities and liberal arts colleges. This study broadens research in this area by examining how the introduction of U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Black Colleges” section influenced undergraduate admissions among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The findings suggest that college rankings have little correlation with admissions outcomes at HBCUs.

This study used data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) to examine how student background characteristics, student engagement, and institutional characteristics correlate with the frequency of interactional diversity among community college students. Given the current lack of research on interactional diversity among community college students, the findings of this study offer the higher education community much needed evidence that can help practitioners better understand the conditions which foster and limit interactional diversity at 2-year institutions.

Noticeably absent from intercollegiate athletics scholarship has been research focused on athletics at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) [Cooper, J. N. (2013). A culture of collective uplift: The influence of a historically black university/college on black male student athletes’ experiences. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 6, 306–331; Gawrysiak, E. J., Cooper, J. N., & Hawkins, B. (2013). The impact of baseball participation on the educational experiences of black student–athletes at historically black colleges and universities. Race Ethnicity and Education, 1–27. doi:10.1080/13613324.2013.792795]. This is likely due in part to the lack of easily accessible descriptive information on HBCU athletics with regard to programs offered, participants, finances, and the student–athlete experience. In an effort to fill this void and stimulate scholarly interest in athletics programs at Black colleges, this report utilizes data from the Equity in Athletics Data Analysis (EADA) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to present a comprehensive picture of the current state of HBCU athletics. Throughout this analysis, policy implications and areas for future inquiry are presented.

Focusing on the issue of institutional control versus student-athlete rights as students, this paper examines the regulation of student-athletes' social media usage by athletic departments. A central focus of the paper is the consideration of laws passed in 12 states since 2012 that limit the authority of colleges and universities to monitor students' social media activities, with much of the impetus for these laws motivated by the treatment of the student-athlete population.

Does fielding a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) program help an institution of higher education obtain aid in the form of state appropriations? Two published studies have found some evidence of a positive correlation between having an FBS-level football program and the amount of appropriations received by public universities. This study looked to reexamine this relationship using the differencein-differences estimation technique. Six institutions of higher education that transitioned from the Football Championship Subdivision to the FBS between 2000 and 2010 were the foci of this analysis. The findings suggest that relative to observationally similar institutions, moving to the FBS does positively correlate with state appropriations received.