Commission Reports and Official Recommendations
Transforming the NCAA D-I Model: Recommendations for Change (2020)
After a year-long examination, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics called for major governance changes for Division I sports, proposing a new governing entity for the sport of football at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, separate from the NCAA. The NCAA would govern all other sports in a reorganized Division I governance, and schools with FBS football programs would remain part of the NCAA in all other sports except football. The Commission outlined its recommendations in a new report, Transforming the NCAA D-I Model: Recommendations for Change.
- Letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert Recommending Guiding Principles for New Rules on the Use of College Athletes’ Name, Image and Likeness, April 6, 2020
- Memo to NCAA re: Recommendations to the Commission on College Basketball, June 19, 2018
- Letter to Condoleezza Rice, Chairperson, NCAA Commission on College Basketball, March 27, 2018
- Summary of Action on Knight Commission Recommendation to Change NCAA Financial Reports to Disclose Football Coaches’ Postseason Bowl Bonuses, October 17, 2017
- Memo to College Football Playoff Board of Managers, September 20, 2017
- Memo to NCAA re: Recommendations to strengthen educational opportunities through college sports, March 16, 2015
- Memos to NCAA re: Governance recommendations, August 6, 2013 and October 15, 2013
Restoring the Balance: Dollars, Values, and the Future of College Sports (2010)
This report aims to set forth reforms that are achievable and that, if implemented, will create a foundation upon which future reforms can build. Our blueprint for restoring educational values and priorities begins with strengthening accountability for athletics programs in three ways: requiring greater transparency and the reporting of better measures to compare athletics spending to academic spending; rewarding practices that make academic values a priority; treating college athletes as students first and foremost — not as professionals.
A Call to Action: Reconnecting College Sports and Higher Education (2001)
A ten-year review of progress made since the original Commission report, calling for a stronger commitment to academic standards in college sports.
Reports of Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (1991-1993)
The commission’s 1991 report, Keeping Faith with the Student Athlete, called for presidential control of intercollegiate athletics to ensure academic and fiscal integrity verified through a transparent certification process. The 1992 and 1993 reports followed the progress of the Commission’s recommendations. All three reports are included in this document.