National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a voluntary, unincorporated association that organizes the intercollegiate athletic programs of its membership, which includes more than 1,200 colleges and universities. As the governing body of intercollegiate sports in the United States, the NCAA's objectives include regulation and promotion of playing rules, of standards of amateurism and academic eligibility, and of various relationships between student-athletes, coaches, and the institutions on whose behalf they compete. This is accomplished by classifying the 1,200-plus-member institution sports programs into Divisions I, II, and III, which reflect the scale and stature of a given institution's athletic programs. This entry addresses the history and impact of the NCAA on intercollegiate athletics in the United States.