College athletics in the United States

College athletics in the United States or college sports in the United States refers primarily to sports and athletic training and competition organized and funded by institutions of tertiary education (universities and colleges) in a two-tiered system.^[1]

The first tier includes the sports that are sanctioned by one of the collegiate sport governing bodies. The major sanctioning organizations include the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Individual sports not governed by umbrella organizations like the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA are overseen by their own organizations, such as the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association, National Collegiate Boxing Association, USA Rugby, American College Cricket, National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association and Intercollegiate Rowing Association. Additionally, the first tier is characterized by selective participation, since only the elite programs in their sport are able to participate; some colleges offer athletic scholarships to intercollegiate sports competitors. The second tier includes all intramural and recreational sports clubs, which are available to a larger portion of the student body. Competition between student clubs from different colleges, not organized by and therefore not representing the institutions or their faculties, may also be called "intercollegiate" athletics or simply college sports.

Unlike in the rest of the world, in the contemporary United States, many college sports are extremely popular on both regional and national scales, even competing with professional championships for prime broadcast, print coverage and for the top athletes. The average university sponsors at least twenty different sports and offers a wide variety of intramural sports as well. In 2002, in total, there were approximately 400,000 men and women student-athletes that participate in sanctioned athletics each year.^[2] The largest collegiate sanctioning organization is the NCAA, and the sport that most schools participate in is basketball, with 2,197 men's and women's basketball teams at all levels.^[3] A close second is cross country (with 2,065 NCAA teams) and baseball/softball is third (1,952).^[3]

Principles for intercollegiate athletics include "gender equity, sportsmanship and ethical conduct, sound academic standards, nondiscrimination, diversity within governance, rules compliance, amateurism, competitive equity, recruiting, eligibility, financial aid, playing and practice seasons, postseason competition and contests sponsored by noncollegiate organizations, and the economy of athletic program operations to ensure fair play and equality throughout all college athletic programs and associations."