According to Brand (2006), what is the Standard View of college athletics?

• A. Athletics integrated with academics
• B. Athletics are treated as separate from academics
• C. Athletics should focus on student welfare
• D. Athletics should be funded by tuition

Answer: (B)

Brand’s Standard View treats college athletics as a separate enterprise within a university, distinct from the academic core. In this frame, sports have their own governance, budgets, and objectives—centered on competition, revenue, visibility, and compliance—rather than being driven primarily by classroom learning or degree outcomes. The university’s academic mission stays primary, while athletics runs alongside it with its own separate logic and incentives. The alternative descriptions describe different perspectives—integrating athletics with academics would tie sports more closely to coursework and degree progress; focusing on student welfare centers on the well‑being of student‑athletes; funding by tuition highlights a financial mechanism rather than a relational stance. So the standard characterization is that athletics are treated as separate from academics.