Sponsoring organizations and questionnaire design: Elon University Poll and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics

  • Fieldwork: Elon University Poll
  • Interview dates: July 29 – August 22, 2025
  • Release date: October 9, 2025
  • Survey mode: Online Qualtrics survey
  • Target population: NCAA Division I presidents and chancellors, athletics directors, senior woman administrators, faculty athletics representatives
  • Number of respondents: 376 (26% response rate)
  • Overall margin of error: +/- 4.4%; larger margins of error for subgroups
  • Crosstab groups as percentage of total respondents: presidents/chancellors – 16%, athletics directors – 25%, senior woman administrators – 21%, faculty athletics representatives – 38%

Topline results with all data tables (PDF)

Survey methodology

This survey was developed by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and the Elon University Poll. It was fielded by the Elon University Poll as a Qualtrics, web-based, self-administered survey between July 29 and August 22, 2025. The total number of respondents was 376 (26% response rate), including 61 presidents and chancellors, 94 athletics directors, 79 senior woman administrators and 142 faculty athletics representatives. The respondents included 51 individuals from Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Power 4/autonomy conferences, 83 from the FBS Group of Six conferences and FBS Independents, 128 from the Football Championship Subdivision and 114 from Division I basketball centric (no football) schools. The overall margin of error for this poll is +/-4.4%, with larger margins of error for subgroups.

The population of interest consisted of all NCAA Division 1 university leaders in the following roles: (1) President, Chancellor or other head of institution title, (2) Director of Athletics or other equivalent title, (3) Senior Woman Administrator, and (4) NCAA recognized Faculty Athletics Representatives. Names and contact information for each member of the population were obtained from both public and non-public sources (approximately 365 contacts for each of the four roles). In cases in which a role was vacant at an institution, the survey was sent to the interim leader in that role.

Between July 29 and August 18, 2025, each contact address received up to three email invitations to complete the survey- up to two using unique links for each invitee and up to one final email with a non-unique link sent by well-known individuals within the D1 sports community. Each response was inspected by the survey director for validity (e.g. non-sensical open-ended responses or “straightlining”). No responses were removed from analysis following that inspection. Respondents did not receive any financial compensation for their voluntary participation. Data were collected so that respondent-identifying information were not fields within the response dataset.

To increase response rates, the survey was announced in multiple communications from the Knight Commission. Additionally, a physical letter was mailed to institution presidents encouraging them to respond to the email invitations. The email survey was conducted using Qualtrics. Data were analyzed using Stata and SPSS. Cross-tabulations are not reported beyond one level (e.g. institution type or role only) to protect privacy of respondents and to avoid over-interpretation of small samples.

Results published here are unweighted. However, results were analyzed using raking weights calculated based on known population parameters for institution type (FBS Power 4, FBS Group of 6, FCS, Basketball-Centric) and the four respondent roles above. Weighted and unweighted results differed on average of 1% within each topline cell.

Sample characteristics

Age

Under age 45 – 14%
45-60 – 57%
Over – 26%
Prefer not to answer – 3%

Gender

Male – 44%
Female – 53%
Prefer not to answer – 2%

Institutional role

  • President/Chancellor – 16%
  • Athletics director – 25%
  • Senior woman administrator – 21%
  • Faculty athletics representative – 38%

Type of institution

Public – 63%
Private – 37%

NCAA Division I subdivision

  • FBS Autonomy or Power 4 Conference (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC) or Notre Dame – 14%
  • FBS Independents and Group of Six (American Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, Pac-12 Conference, Sun Belt Conference) – 22%
  • Football Championship Subdivision – 34%
  • Division I Basketball Centric (No Football) – 30%

Have competed in college athletics

Yes – 48%
No – 50%
Prefer not to answer – 2%