--- title: Concussions NCAA Athletics: Study Says Many Colleges Lag Behind description: Policies guiding concussion treatment at many colleges across the country still run afoul of rules set by the NCAA, according to a study. canonical: https://time.com/3531566/concussions-athletes-ncaa/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-22T18:59:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:56:44.370Z article:section: Health og:title: Many Colleges Fail to Address Concussions, Study Shows og:description: Policies guiding concussion treatment at many colleges across the country still run afoul of rules set by the NCAA, according to a study. og:url: https://time.com/3531566/concussions-athletes-ncaa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72a9cb7313ee8123/6987624c524fc02677dea058/helmet-football-concussion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3687 og:image:height: 2074 og:image:alt: helmet football concussion og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Many Colleges Fail to Address Concussions, Study Shows twitter:description: Policies guiding concussion treatment at many colleges across the country still run afoul of rules set by the NCAA, according to a study. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72a9cb7313ee8123/6987624c524fc02677dea058/helmet-football-concussion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Many Colleges Fail to Address Concussions, Study Shows > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=04973c65-faee-413a-b513-7729722ba370&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 22, 2014 6:59 PM UTC  X-Ray image of a brain in a football helmet. X-Ray image of a brain in a football helmet. Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 22, 2014 6:59 PM UTC Policies guiding concussion treatment at scores of colleges across the country still run afoul of rules set by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), according to a new [study](http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/20/0363546514553090.abstract) in _The American Journal of Sports Medicine._ “The vast majority of schools did have a concussion management plan, but not all of them did,” said Christine Baugh, a Harvard researcher and one of the study’s co-authors. “The number of schools who reported to us that they didn’t have a concussion management plan in place affects tens of thousands of athletes each year.” The study comes as the NCAA faces increased pressure to protect the health of college athletes. Earlier this year, the organization set aside $70 million for concussion testing and research to [settle](http://time.com/3051739/ncaa-concussion-lawsuit-settlement/) several class action lawsuits. The exact number of college athletes who suffer from concussions during practice and games is unclear, but some [estimates put it in the thousands](http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/america-tonight-blog/2014/1/9/ncaa-head-games-theveryskewedconcussiondataincollegefootball.html). To combat concussions, the NCAA has mandated that colleges create “concussion management plans.” While 93% of the 2,600 schools surveyed said they had drafted such a plan to guide their response to concussions, many of those plans lacked components that Baugh says are critical to actually reducing the head injury. For one, about a quarter of schools don’t train athletes to detect concussions, making it difficult for athletes to recognize when they need to seek medical attention. And more than 6 percent of schools allow coaches or athletes who lack formal medical training to make the final decision about whether a student can return to competition after suffering a concussion. “It may be the case that coaches and athletes are being extra cautious; despite being cleared by a clinician, they are withholding themselves or withholding their athletes,” said Baugh, who was a Division I athlete during her college years. “But it may also be the case that some of these schools, coaches or athletes are pressuring clinicians to prematurely return to play before their symptoms have been resolved.” The study concludes with a recommendation for the NCAA: step up enforcement of concussion policies. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3531566/concussions-athletes-ncaa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3531566/concussions-athletes-ncaa/"},"headline":"Many Colleges Fail to Address Concussions, Study Shows","datePublished":"2014-10-22T18:59:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:56:44.370Z","description":"A quarter of schools don't educate their athletes on the injury","url":"https://time.com/3531566/concussions-athletes-ncaa/","keywords":["Research","Sports topic","concussions","health","NCAA","athletics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72a9cb7313ee8123/6987624c524fc02677dea058/helmet-football-concussion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72a9cb7313ee8123/6987624c524fc02677dea058/helmet-football-concussion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"helmet football concussion","caption":"helmet football concussion","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3531566/concussions-athletes-ncaa/","name":"Many Colleges Fail to Address Concussions, Study Shows"}}]}] ```