Abstract
Many college athletes suffer career-ending injuries that leave them with expensive medical bills and lost scholarship opportunities. California’s 2012 student athlete bill of rights mandated that the state’s universities continue to care for college athletes by providing access to medical care and equivalent scholarships even if they were injured and could no longer participate in athletics. We analyzed publicly available data from the college athletics financial information database using multiple quasi-experimental approaches, including difference-in-differences with propensity score weights and synthetic control methods. We found evidence that Cal-Berkeley and UCLA increased medical expenditures but not student aid. Our findings were robust across both types of analyses. We discuss implications and offer directions for future research related to policy implementation.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Following, Jayakumar and Comeaux (2016), we use “college athlete,” except when directly citing sources or legislation that use the term “student athlete.”
References
Abadie, A., & Gardeazabal, J. (2003). The economic costs of conflict: A case study of the Basque Country. American Economic Review, 93(1), 113–132. https://doi.org/10.1257/000282803321455188
Abadie, A., Diamond, A., & Hainmueller, J. (2010). Synthetic control methods for comparative case studies: Estimating the effect of California’s tobacco control program. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 105(490), 493–505. https://doi.org/10.1198/jasa.2009.ap08746
Abadie, A., Diamond, A., & Hainmueller, J. (2015). Comparative politics and the synthetic control method. American Journal of Political Science, 59(2), 495–510. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12116
Beaudin, L. (2018). Examining the relationship between athletic program expenditure and athletic program success among NCAA Division I institutions: A dynamic panel data approach. Journal of Sports Economics, 19(7), 1016–1045. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002517702423
Brown, K. N. (2020). The shifting scheme of athletic fundraising: Investigating private giving under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of West Virginia.
California Office of Legislative Counsel. (2012). SB-1525 postsecondary education: Student Athlete Bill of Rights. Retrieved from https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1525.
California Student Aid Commission. (2013). Entitlement and competitive Cal Grant Programs: Average income, GPA, family size, and age by segment award years 2010–11 through 2012–13. Retrieved from https://www.csac.ca.gov/sites/main/files/file-attachments/entitlement_and_competitive_averages.pdf?1509663254.
Cheslock, J. J., & Knight, D. B. (2015). Diverging revenues, cascading expenditures, and ensuing subsidies: The unbalanced and growing financial strain of intercollegiate athletics on universities and their students. The Journal of Higher Education, 86(3), 417–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2015.11777370
Comeaux, E. (2010). Racial differences in faculty perceptions of collegiate student-athletes’ academic and post-undergraduate achievements. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27(4), 390–412. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.27.4.390
Comeaux, E., & Harrison, C. K. (2011). A conceptual model of academic success for student–athletes. Educational Researcher, 40(5), 235–245. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X11415260
Cooper, J. N. (2016). Excellence beyond athletics: Best practices for enhancing black male student athletes’ educational experiences and outcomes. Equity & Excellence in Education, 49(3), 267–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2016.1194097
Cooper, J. N., Nwadike, A., & Macaulay, C. (2017). A critical race theory analysis of big-time college sports: Implications for culturally responsive and race-conscious sport leadership. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 10, 204–233.
Cunningham, S. (2021). Causal inference: The mixtape. Yale University Press.
Desrochers, D. M. (2013). Academic spending versus athletic spending: Who wins? (Delta Cost Project at American Institutes for Research, Issue Brief). Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED541214.pdf.
Edwards, H. (1984). The black “dumb jock”: An American sports tragedy. College Board Review, 131, 8–13.
Eitzen, D. (2009). Fair and foul: Beyond the myths and paradoxes of sport. Rowman & Littlefield.
Flores, S. (2010). The first state dream act: In-state resident tuition and immigration in Texas. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 32, 435–455. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373710380741
Fort, R. (2010). An economic look at the sustainability of FBS athletic departments. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 3(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.3.1.3
Gándara, D. (2020). How the sausage is made: An examination of a state funding model design process. The Journal of Higher Education, 91(2), 192–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1618782
Garces, L. M. (2012). Racial diversity, legitimacy, and the citizenry: The impact of affirmative action bans on graduate school enrollment. Review of Higher Education, 36, 93–132. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2012.0050
Hall, W. J., Chapman, M. V., Lee, K. M., Merino, Y. M., Thomas, T. W., Payne, B. K., Eng, E., Day, S. H., & Coyne-Beasley, T. (2015). Implicit racial/ethnic bias among health care professionals and its influence on health care outcomes: A systematic review. American Journal of Public Health, 105(12), e60–e76.
Harper, S. R. (2016). Black male student-athletes and racial inequities in NCAA Division I college sports: 2016 edition. Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
Haslerig, S. J., Vue, R., & Grummert, S. E. (2020). Invincible bodies: American sport media’s racialization of black and white college football players. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 55(3), 272–290. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690218809317
Hawkins, B. (2013). The new plantation: Black athletes, college sports, and predominantly white NCAA institutions. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hillman, N., & Corral, D. (2017). The equity implications of paying for performance in higher education. American Behavioral Scientist, 61(14), 1757–1772. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764217744834
Hinrichs, P. (2012). The effects of affirmative action bans on college enrollment, educational attainment, and the demographic composition of universities. Review of Economics and Statistics, 94(3), 712–722. https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00170
Hoffer, A., Humphreys, B. R., Lacombe, D. J., & Ruseski, J. E. (2015). Trends in NCAA athletic spending: Arms race or rising tide? Journal of Sports Economics, 16(6), 576–596. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002515592541
Howe, J. (2020). Manifestations of athletic identity in black male collegiate student-athletes: Introduction of a model. Journal of Amateur Sport, 6(2), 107–135. https://doi.org/10.17161/jas.v6i2.13636
Howdeshell, M. (2020). A numbers game: Factors influencing generated revenue at the NCAA football championship subdivision (FCS) level (27958382) [Doctoral dissertation, Northern Arizona University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Hu, X., Fernandez, F., & Gándara, D. (2020). Are donations bigger in Texas? Analyzing the impact of a policy to match donations to Texas’ emerging research universities. American Educational Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831220968947
Huma, R., & Staurowsky, E. J. (2011). The price of poverty in big time college sport. Retrieved from https://www.ncpanow.org/research/body/The-Price-of-Poverty-in-Big-Time-College-Sport.pdf.
Huml, M. R. (2018). A factor structure examination of athletic identity related to NCAA divisional differences. Journal of College Student Development, 59(3), 376–381. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0035
Humphreys, B. R., & Mondello, M. (2007). Intercollegiate athletic success and donations at NCAA Division I institutions. Journal of Sport Management, 21(2), 265–280. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.21.2.265
Jaquette, O., Kramer, D. A., & Curs, B. R. (2018). Growing the pie? The effect of responsibility center management on tuition revenue. The Journal of Higher Education, 89(5), 637–676. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1434276
Jayakumar, U. M., & Comeaux, E. (2016). The cultural cover-up of college athletics: How organizational culture perpetuates an unrealistic and idealized balancing act. The Journal of Higher Education, 87(4), 488–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2016.11777411
Jones, W. A. (2013). Exploring the relationship between intercollegiate athletic expenditures and team on-field success among NCAA Division I Institutions. Journal of Sports Economics, 14(6), 584–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002511433469
Kay, M. C., Register-Mihalik, J. K., Gray, A. D., Djoko, A., Dompier, T. P., & Kerr, Z. Y. (2017). The epidemiology of severe injuries sustained by National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes, 2009–2010 through 2014–2015. Journal of Athletic Training, 52(2), 117–128. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-52.1.01
Kerr, Z. Y., Marshall, S. W., Dompier, T. P., Corlette, J., Klossner, D. A., & Gilchrist, J. (2015). College sports–related injuries—United States, 2009–10 through 2013–14 academic years. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 64(48), 1330–1336.
Kirzinger, A., Muñana, C., Wu, B., & Brodie, M. (2019). Health care costs. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/data-note-americans-challenges-health-care-costs/.
Kline, N. (2018). Bridging the NCAA’s accident insurance coverage gaps: A deep dive into the uncertainties of injury coverage in college contact sports, and the impact that has on athletes’ future physical and financial comfort. Cleveland-Marshall Journal of Law and Health, 31, 55–85.
Klößner, S., Kaul, A., Pfeifer, G., & Schieler, M. (2018). Comparative politics and the synthetic control method revisited: A note on Abadie et al. (2015). Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, 154(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41937-017-0004-
Lane, J. E., & Kivisto, J. A. (2008). Interests, information, and incentives in higher education: A review of principal-agent theory in higher education governance. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 23, pp. 141–180). Springer.
Levine, M. E., & Forrence, J. L. (1990). Regulatory capture, public interest, and the public agenda: Toward a synthesis. Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, 6, 167–198.
Liu, H. (2020). How do affirmative action bans affect the racial composition of postsecondary students in public institutions? Educational Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904820961007
McCoy, H. (2020). Black lives matter, and yes, you are racist: The parallelism of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 37(5), 463–475. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-020-00690-4
Mende-Siedlecki, P., Qu-Lee, J., Backer, R., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2019). Perceptual contributions to racial bias in pain recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(5), 863–889. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000600
Mettler, S. (2014). Degrees of inequality: How the politics of higher education sabotaged the American dream. Basic Books.
Milton, P. R., Freeman, D., & Williamson, L. M. (2012). Do athletic scholarships impact academic success of intercollegiate student-athletes: An exploratory investigation. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 5, 329–338.
Moe, T. M. (1984). The new economics of organization. American Journal of Political Science, 28(4), 739–777. https://doi.org/10.2307/2110997
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (n.d.a). Well-being. Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.org/health-and-safety.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (n.d.b). NCAA student-athlete medical insurance legislation. Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/insurance/ncaa-student-athlete-medical-insurance-legislation.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2016). Survey: Most DI schools provide injury coverage. Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/survey-most-di-schools-provide-injury-coverage.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2019a). 20-hour rule document. Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/20-Hour-Rule-Document.pdf.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2019b). NCAA demographics database. Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/ncaa-demographics-database.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2020). Finances of intercollegiate athletics. Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/finances-intercollegiate-athletics.
Navarro, K. M. (2015). Toward an understanding of best practices in student-athlete peer mentorship programs: Implications for Division I higher education and intercollegiate athletics practitioners. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 9(1), 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1179/1935739715Z.00000000033
Orszag, J. M., & Israel, M. (2009). The empirical effects of collegiate athletics: An update based on 2004–2007 data. National Collegiate Athletic Association. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228511262
Paule-Koba, A. L., & Rohrs-Cordes, K. (2019). I can’t play? Now what?: Examining collegiate athlete handbooks written policies and procedures related to career-ending injury. International Journal of Sport Management, 20, 1–18.
Rankin, S., Merson, D., Garvey, J. C., Sorgen, C. H., Menon, I., Loya, K., & Oseguera, L. (2016). The influence of climate on the academic and athletic success of student-athletes: Results from a multi-institutional national study. The Journal of Higher Education, 87(5), 701–730. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2016.11777419
Rosenbaum, P. R., & Rubin, D. B. (1985). Constructing a control group using multivariate matched sampling methods that incorporate the propensity score. The American Statistician, 39, 33–38. https://doi.org/10.2307/2683903
Rubin, L. M., & Rosser, V. J. (2014). Comparing Division IA scholarship and non-scholarship student-athletes: A discriminant analysis. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 7, 43–64.
Rudolph, M. J. (2017). Do intercollegiate athletics subsidies correlate with educational spending? An empirical study of public Division-I colleges and universities [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Kentucky.
Sack, A. (2008). Counterfeit amateurs: An athlete’s journey through the sixties to the age of academic capitalism. Penn State Press.
Sailes, G. A. (2002). African-American college athletes: Debunking the myth of the dumb jock. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 35, 36–40.
Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2001). Critical race and LatCrit theory and method: Counter-storytelling. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14(4), 471–495. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365
Sparvero, E. S., & Warner, S. (2013). The price of winning and the impact on the NCAA community. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 6(1), 120–142. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.6.1.120
Thelin, J. R. (1996). Games colleges play: Scandal and reform in intercollegiate athletics. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Trochim, W. M. K., & Donnelly, J. P. (2006). Research methods: The essential knowledge base (3rd ed.). Atomic Dog.
Umbricht, M. R., Fernandez, F., & Ortagus, J. C. (2017). An examination of the (un)intended consequences of performance funding in higher education. Educational Policy, 31(5), 643–673. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904815614398
Van Rheenen, D. (2013). Exploitation in college sports: Race, revenue, and educational reward. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 48(5), 550–571. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690212450218
Ward, J., & Ost, B. (2021). The effect of large-scale performance-based funding in higher education. Education Finance and Policy, 16(1), 92–124. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00300
Wolverton, B. (2007). Athletes question effectiveness of NCAA rule: Progress requirement designed to punish delinquent students causes headaches for some high achievers. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/athletes-question-effectiveness-of-ncaa-rule/.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Willis A. Jones for helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Umbricht, M.R., Fernandez, F. & Ortega, G. The Blind Side of College Athletics: Examining California’s Student Athlete Bill of Rights and Athletic Expenditures. Res High Educ 64, 33–57 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-022-09697-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-022-09697-5