Black men are disproportionately represented in college athletics at National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I, Division II, and Division III levels in comparison with their enrollment in postsecondary education. This could be exacerbated by the end of race-based affirmative action, especially given that overall Black male enrollment at NCAA schools was already declining before this change in the college admissions process.

This brief uses Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System enrollment data, NCAA data, and Equity in Athletics data to look at differences in the representation of Black men within athletics and in the larger undergraduate student body across Division I, Division II, and Division III. We also compare results between institutions with a football program and those without. The data show the following:

• Across all three levels, Black men make up a larger share of the athletics population than they do the student body. For example, at the Division I level, Black men make up 4 percent of undergraduate students but 14 percent of Division I athletes. In comparison, white men make up 24 percent of the student body and 27 percent of student athletes at the Division I level.
• When looking between football and non-football conferences, Black male athletes make up a smaller share of student athletes among schools with no football but are still disproportionately represented in comparison with their representation in the overall undergraduate student body.
• Additionally, Black male undergraduate students are more likely to be athletes than their white counterparts. At the Division I level, 13 percent of Black male undergraduate students are athletes compared with 3 percent of white male undergraduates.

These findings highlight the need for greater efforts to enroll Black men in higher education beyond athletics. And as new admissions data come out post–affirmative action, it will be important to monitor the representation of Black men in the student body, especially in comparison with other racial groups and their representation in a school’s athletic programs.