The purpose of this study was to determine if differences exist among NCAA divisions I, II and III as well as between Athletic Directors and Primary Women Administrators with regard to the perceived competencies and preparatory coursework required of athletic administrators. A mail survey utilizing a six point forced choice Likert rating scale was constructed from a review of the literature and modifications of the survey instrument "Athletic Club Managers Survey" developed by Lambrecht (1986). The questionnaire contained 46 competency statements and 30 course content area statements as well as a set of demographic questions. The 1987-88 NCAA Directory listed 466 institutions which employed both an Athletic Director and a Primary Woman Administrator. Two hundred five of these institutions were systematically randomly selected and received two questionnaires, one for the Athletic Director and one for the Primary Woman Administrator. Three hundred and forty-nine questionnaires were returned yielding an 85% response rate. It was hypothesized that there were no significant differences between the responses of athletic administrators from the three divisions of the NCAA with regard to the competency and course content area statements. The analysis of variance technique was used to analyze the data. Where differences existed the Newman-Keuls test was employed to determine the location. The null hypothesis was rejected for 20 competency items and 17 course content area items. Athletic Directors and Primary Women Administrators were also studied. Fifteen competency items and 14 course content area items were rejected in this comparison. The top six ranked competency items were: 1. Enforce NCAA Rules, 2. Human Relations, 3. Staff Communications, 4. Decision Making Process, 5. Budget Preparation and Control, and 6. Interpret NCAA Rules. These top six ranked competency items were the same in each division, although the order of importance varied. Competency items were rated higher than course content area items. Of the top 16 items with means above 5.0, only three items were course content area items. Public Relations, Speech and Writing were the top three ranked courses. Results of this study indicate that there is limited significant difference among the three NCAA Divisions or between Athletic Directors and Primary Women Administrators in their perception of competencies and coursework necessary for athletic administrators. / Graduation date: 1990