(Excerpts from Inside Higher Ed) 

• Democrats in Congress are looking to change the college sports landscape with new legislation that would classify college athletes as employees of their institutions and give them the power to bargain collectively.
• The legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act to define athletes as employees of their colleges if they receive compensation for their participation in intercollegiate sports, whether that compensation is in the form of grant-in-aid or any other form. Both public and private colleges would be defined as employers within the context of intercollegiate sports.
• Athletes would be allowed to unionize, and the National Labor Relations Board would facilitate multiemployer bargaining units for each athletic conference. The NLRB would also have jurisdiction over higher education institutions with respect to athletics and collective bargaining, giving athletes the ability to petition the NLRB to settle any disputes.
• The bill includes language prohibiting colleges from establishing scholarship agreements that waive the right of athletes to unionize and ensuring that athletes' tax status or scholarship eligibility doesn't change because of their employment status.
• The NCAA said in a statementthat the legislation would "directly undercut the purpose of college," which is to earn a degree.