In 1918 Thorstein Veblem, one of American society's most and caustic critics, aimed his analytic eye at the institution of American higher education. The thread of economics ran through most of Veblen's work, includingThe Higher Learning in America. He described the businesslike posture take in American colleges and scrutinized, in particular, the place of college athletics within the“business”of higher education. This paper considers how Veblen's commentary applies to contemporary college athletics.