Trump Issues Executive Order to Ensure Scholarships for Women, Olympic Sports

President Donald This week issued an executive order aimed at ensuring colleges and universities allocate enough scholarships for women and Olympic sports. 

According to NPR, the order directs the nation's largest athletic departments to maintain certain numbers of scholarships for women's and Olympic sports, while also reining in NIL agreements. 

"The future of college sports is under unprecedented threat," the order says. "A national solution is urgently needed to prevent this situation from deteriorating beyond repair and to protect non-revenue sports, including many women's sports, that comprise the backbone of intercollegiate athletics, drive American superiority at the Olympics and other international competitions, and catalyze hundreds of thousands of student-athletes to fuel American success in myriad ways."

Trump's order comes in the wake of the House settlement, which paves the way for schools to directly compensate student-athletes to the tune of $20.5 million per school annually. Much of that money is expected to be distributed to revenue-generating sports, such as football and basketball. 

"The NCAA is making positive changes for student-athletes and confronting many challenges facing college sports by mandating health and wellness benefits and guaranteeing scholarships, but there are some threats to college sports that federal legislation can effectively address and the Association is advocating with student-athletes and their schools for a bipartisan solution with Congress and the Administration," wrote NCAA president Charlie Baker in response to Trump's order. "The Association appreciates the Trump Administration's focus on the life-changing opportunities college sports provides millions of young people and we look forward to working with student-athletes, a bipartisan coalition in Congress and the Trump Administration to enhance college sports for years to come."

The order notes that absent any guardrails, many non-revenue sports will cease to exist. 

The order would require the highest-earning college athletic departments to provide more scholarship opportunities in non-revenue sports than they did in the 2024-2025 school year, impacting about 30 of the largest universities in the country. 

NPR reports that the the order would be enforced by directing the Department of Education — which the Trump administration is in the process of dismantling — to use the disbursement of federal funds, Title IX enforcement, and interstate commerce laws to influence schools. 

But the order also targets "pay-for-play" NIL deals, calling them "improper and should not be permitted by universities."