Student Athletes Should Be Paid

In the recent past, college athletics has gained massive fame in the United States. The immense fame of the college athletics has developed over the past twenty years. The massive development and fame of the college athletics have resulted in improved incomes for the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). Due to increased revenue received by the NCAA, the participates in athletics in the colleges has fuelled the argument of whether the college athletes need to be paid and rewarded more than just the athletic scholarships. In this research paper, I will take a stab at to respond the question whether they should be paid by delving the explanations for and against the payment of the college athletes (Adams and Becky 108).

No one expects somebody to work two fulltime jobs and not get paid for it. Nobody would think it would be fair to work so hard and not receive any form of compensation. This is exactly what is happening to student athletes. Student athletes are not only fulltime students, but also are fulltime athletes. There are two very decisive sides to this argument. On one side the NCAA claims that the student athletes are amateurs and cannot be paid. They also claim they are paid in other ways such as a full ride scholarship to a top level education. The other side of the argument states that the work load of a fulltime student and a fulltime athlete is almost unmanageable and the NCAA is making millions off of their work and sweat. This is an issue

$9,139 is the average cost of college for a student to go attend an in-state four year public university (“College Costs”). This amount does not include housing, food, books, or supplies; this can end up totaling near $10,000, but imagine if both of these figures were paid for you. This would mean you would pay nothing to attend a four year college, and this is the reality for many individuals today; these people are commonly known as student-athletes. Many student-athletes receive full scholarships to schools covering their room, board, tuition, books and any other expenses they may incur because they are playing a sport at the institution. Not to mention many of these individuals will receive stipends to use at their own will. However, these same students feel like these benefits are not enough (“Here’s”). Some students feel like they are being cheated out of their talents because NCAA uses them in media and in other profitable ventures but they are not paid. Others just feel that the role of a college athlete should include receiving payment since they are like professional athletes and see their sport as their only profession. Student- athletes may have a similar role to professional athletes, but do not deserve the same compensation because they are receiving their payment through a school scholarship.

Many believe that paying college athletes is wrong because they are amateurs, or students first and athletes second. With tuition continuing to raise the average athletic scholarships aren’t covering the costs anymore. There is a misconception that most college athletes on athletic scholarships are getting everything paid for, in reality that’s actually false. For example, a Division I basketball team is granted thirteen scholarships each year. Of those thirteen scholarships the University is allowed to split them up however they feel. These scholarships are for incoming students from high school and returning student athletes that had their scholarship picked up for another year. According to author Mark Kantrowitz, less than 20,000 students a year receive an entirely free ride to college (O’Shaughnessy, 2011). That number is students total, not student athletes, that is a very small number when you see that there were 453,347 NCAA student athletes in 2012-13 (Brown, 2013).

College athletes should be paid to play and schools need to consider compensating these athletes for their talents based on the revenue they generate. Given the fact college sports is a big money maker for many universities and colleges, Kenneth Cooper, author of the article, “Should College Athletes be Paid to Play”?, argues that “college athletes should not be paid due to the fact they are still amateurs who are representatives of the schools they attend” (Cooper). Additional arguments made by Cooper against paying the athletes, include the fact that “these men and women are not just athletes, but students first” (Cooper). From my point of view, this statement would be true only if the emphasis were realistically placed on academics. Therefore,

Scholarships do not pay for everything that students require, resulting in students struggling to excel during college. When a student-athlete is financially struggling life can become difficult quickly. Everybody has a limit to their capabilities, and the amount of work required to perform well in class, on the field, and with financials will test those limits. The work required for student-athletes deserves a high bargain to counteract the effort. Sacrificing classroom performance for athletic performance is a risk that has a low rate of reward. Unless a student-athlete becomes professional in his or her sport athletics do not directly lead to a future. If players were paid for their entertainment then a future is possible with start-up or investing. Athletes are subjected to the NCAA’s wrongful rules that control their athletes completely, and the players deserve a chance to receive an income. Student-athletes need an income, they deserve an income, and the NCAA is holding those students back from a future. The NCAA needs to pay collegiate athletes what they rightfully have

In America, college athletes should be paid because the NCAA is making money off them from the sports that they are playing. They don 't have time to look for jobs or work for one because all of

Some people believe that college athletes should be paid due to a concern of exploitation. However most college athletes are already compensated for their athletics with scholarships and countless benefits. They already receive significant scholarships worth upwards of “$50,000 per year” at some of the most highly regarded education institutions in the nation (Text

Intro: Imagine this: full time job, full time college student. Tying to juggle your job and academics at the same time, putting equal time in for each. Then, at the end of the month you didn’t get paid for the work that you were achieving in your job. This is how college athletes are feeling today. Ineffective, useless and unproductive. Many people in the college sports industry are getting paid except for the people who are accomplishing the most, the athletes. They put in the work, time, and effort to their athletics but their academics are being overlooked totally. With so many mixed emotions and laws standing in the way, there has not been as much commotion over this issues as there should be. College athletes should be getting paid because of the work that they are putting into the system, and the results that they are getting out of the game and audience.

We are all aware of the common misconception that college athletes should be paid. However, I believe that college athletes that not only should they not be paid but are undeserving of being paid. There are many things to consider and take into account when mentioning compensation and college athletes. The truth is, paying colleges athletes leads to a number of internal and external conflicts that could easily be avoided.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a 501(c)3 business that will bring in over one billion dollars in revenue in 2014. However, many of the athletes that bring in the money to the NCAA are complaining of going hungry because of the strict rules the NCAA has placed on university athletic programs. In March 2014, Shabazz Napier, the star of the 2014 NCAA Champions University of Connecticut Men's Basketball Team, publically told reporters that he sometimes goes to bed hungry some nights because he can not afford food. Although NCAA full scholarships include meal plans, the NCAA recognized a need for more accessible food for athletes. In April 2014, the NCAA approved a motion that will allow universities to provide unlimited

Rose Bowl to see your favorite player. You might've even bought tickets and wore their jersey to the game. The truth is, you never would've bought that jersey or ticket if they didn't play, so the college company is making huge sums of money off of your favorite players name. Many people believe that at least a small percentage of the money made off merchandise should be given to the players who made it.

Every year, especially around the March Madness basketball tournament, the same question arises: should college athletes be compensated for the time they put into their sport? Supporters state the compensation of student-athletes is necessary in today’s system of college athletics. However, others argue payment of collegiate athletes should not become mandatory and is unnecessary. Therefore, some believe student athletes should be financially compensated for their efforts because they are not benefiting from their hard work, but others already consider college athletes to be be paid because they are compensated in forms other than money.

How would you feel if you worked 40 hours a week but didn't make any money? This is how college athletes feel right now. Since college athletes give up endless amounts of time, bring attention to the schools, and will prepare the athletes for the pros, college athletes should be paid.

A Second argument that supports paying college athletes, is that colleges allow advertisers, arena operators, concession owners, athletic gear manufacturers, retailers, game companies, and media moguls, along with coaches and university officials, to make millions of dollars off of college football players and the college football players received nothing. Student-athletes are prevented from profiting from their name and image. The NCAA makes billions of dollars selling the rights to televise games and selling merchandise and jerseys. Colleges from the Big Ten to the Mid-American Conference ask or require athletes to sign waivers giving up their publicity rights without compensation… (Keilman and Hopkins) Also, these athletes risk their body