Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics 2011-12 Research Grants Initiative

In May 2011, the Knight Commission announced a new initiative to fund research on policy issues in college sports. The program was intended to enhance the Commission’s long-standing legacy of recommending policy changes to improve the management and integrity of big-time college athletics. This initiative brings new voices into the conversation about how to ensure that athletics programs provide value both to individual athletes and to the colleges and universities that support them. Six research teams were awarded grants totaling $100,000 for projects the Commission believed would produce new knowledge and insights and, in particular, real-world information and advice to leaders in college athletics to address the ethical, commercial, and academic challenges they face in college sports.