This chapter provides an overview of current legal issues in college sports and offers implications for supporting student-athletes and the academic mission of higher education institutions.

This chapter highlights issues of racism and neoliberal capitalism that exist within the market-like structure of intercollegiate athletics on college campuses, as well as some of the consequences for student-athletes. We discuss the importance of using critical frameworks to better understand and shift the culture and structure of athletic…

This chapter discusses the transition from high school to college for student-athletes. The concepts of athlete identity and leadership development are discussed through the lens of the high school athlete who attends college as a collegiate athlete and those students who are dealing with a loss of their high school athlete identity.

Although higher education research underscores the importance of sense of belonging (SoB) for students' academic success and degree completion, research on the development and impact of SoB for student-athletes is limited. Informed by Astin's (1993) Input-Environment-Output (I-E-O) model and Tinto's (1994) theory of student departure, this study…

This study tested a new conceptual model that explains how precollege traits, college culture, and cocurricular engagement impact civic responsibility by athletic status. The results showed group differences on engagement in charitable activities. Moreover, the model has utility for predicting social activism and charitable involvement regardless…

Prior to the 1980s, the literature on the experiences of collegiate student athletes was rather scarce. Since that time the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has passed several eligibility rules to address concerns about the academic performance and the overall experience of student athletes on college campuses. As such, the…

Over the past decade, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has become increasingly concerned about the educational experience of student athletes, beyond enforcement of eligibility rules and regulations. Perhaps this growing interest is in response to public criticism of the poor performance--and even misconduct--associated with the…

Most of the internal and public scrutiny of college sports involves high profile athletes in sports such as football and men's basketball; yet, recent research on the impact of sport participation on student learning and development has largely focused on comparing all athletes to their non-athlete peers across institutional types. There is a need…