NCAA

With tuition and fees on the rise, a poll from Monmouth University finds a majority of Americans think higher education is spending too much time and money on sports. Perhaps no one knows that better than Mark Schlissel, president of the University of Michigan. WGBH’s On Campus recently sat down with Schlissel for a rare one-on-one interview and asked him how big-time college sports impact the bottom line and identity of a major research university.

Facing widespread criticism for its hypocrisy and growing inequities between coaches and players, the National Collegiate Athletic Association will pay for family travel to national championship games. Under a new pilot program announced Tuesday, the NCAA said it will help cover expenses for players' families to travel to the Men's and Women's Final Four this spring.

Now that members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association 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, three very important public policy concerns need to be addressed.

In a ruling that may have widespread effects, the National Labor Relations Board says football players at Northwestern University are employees and entitled to unionize.