National College Players Association files civil rights complaint with U.S. Department of Education against Division I schools

The National College Players Association (NCPA) has filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, asserting that more than 350 Division I colleges are violating Black students' civil rights by imposing a collusive athlete compensation prohibition.

The organization says that because a high percentage of Black students are also college athletes at these colleges, the industry-wide compensation limit causes a disparate impact on Black college students.

The NCPA says its position is bolstered by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanagh's opinion in the NCAA v. Alston lawsuit which stated in part, "… the NCAA and its member colleges are suppressing the pay of student athletes who collectively generate billions of dollars in revenues for colleges every year… But the student athletes who generate the revenues, many of whom are African American and from lower-income backgrounds, end up with little or nothing."

«This multibillion college sports enterprise imposes discriminatory practices that disproportionately harms Black athletes, while predominantly White coaches and administrators make millions of dollars,» NCPA executive director Ramogi Huma said in a statement. «College athletes throughout predominantly White sports receive fair market compensation, but athletes in the only predominantly Black sports (FBS football and men's and women's basketball) do not. All college athletes should have the opportunity to receive fair market pay. This can happen without cutting any sports. Colleges would just have to spend a bit less on coaches' salaries and luxury facilities.»

The statement included comments from several athletes, including Stanford wide receiver Elijah Higgins, who said: