The NCAA has been sued in a proposed class action by current and former Division III athletes alleging it illegally prohibits schools in its largest division from offering athletic scholarships.
The lawsuit in the case Connor Printz et al v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, US District Court, Central District of California, No. 2:26-cv-12448 was filed Friday in federal court in Los Angeles.
The details, as reported by Reuters:
• The plaintiffs contend the NCAA’s Division III, which includes more than 400 schools, is violating antitrust law by fixing the price of athletic labor at zero.
• Division III is the NCAA’s fastest-growing by school count, according to the lawsuit, which also states that more than 175,000 athletes compete in Division III in a single academic year.
• Many Division III schools have significant athletic budgets that outpace those of larger schools but “have agreed not to deploy a single dollar of those budgets in the form of athletic aid that would reduce the cost of college for their athletes,” the lawsuit said.
• The NCAA says the unavailability of athletic scholarships by Division III schools is a “core principle” that “athletics participation should not be financially rewarded in the same way as academic achievement.” However, Divisions I and II are not constrained by this same principal.
