“They need to have some real money to walk around with that they can live off of.” Student athletes are not allowed to work much under NCAA regulations, and those who are in favor of paying them often point to that rule as a reason college athletes need money. But that reason isn’t enough for all coaches to share O’Brien’s views toward paying student athletes. Wrestling coach Russ Hellickson answered the same question: Should student athletes be paid? He came up with a very different response. “No, but they should be able to get what, say, a Presidential Scholar gets,” he said in an e-mail. “This should be an educational experience.” Presidential Scholars receive full in-state tuition, room and board, book allowances and miscellaneous expenses — a total that OSU media relations estimates to be $12,483 per year for in-state students. That is nearly $2,000 more than an in-state athlete receives, even if they are awarded a full scholarship. Most of that $2,000 falls under the category of miscellaneous expenses, something athletes do not receive money for. The extra scholarship money is to be used for “athletic tickets, book costs, bus passes; anything that students need for living,” said Amy Murray, OSU spokeswoman. Some coaches are in favor of keeping things exactly as they are, without raising scholarship levels. Softball coach Linda Kalafatis said she did not feel well
What most people don’t is that not all athletes get the full-ride scholarships that people think of. Most collegiate sports don’t even offer full-ride scholarships; instead they have a set amount of money that they can do whatever to give scholarships. According to a U.S. News article, “The average athletic scholarship is about $10,400. Only four sports offer full rides to all athletes who receive scholarships: football, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball” (O'Shaughnessy). Just to put this into perspective, there are twenty-four total college sports, and only these 4 offer full scholarships. This showcases the rarity of a full-ride in college athletes. Looking into it even more, most of those college athletes come from low income families, “86 percent of college athletes come from below the poverty line” (Hayes 1). A college athlete's schedule is also very hectic. In an article showing the schedule of a football player, it lists, “6am-7am: Wake up,
These scholarships give these athletes everything that they need and much more. Getting paid by the college would defeat the purpose of the scholarship; so the scholarships will be taken away and then the athletes will be left alone dealing with their own money which could prove to be difficult for most of them to manage along with school work and practices. They have everything that they need right in front of them provided for the most part by the school and sports administration department.
Whether or not student-athletes should be paid has been a hotly debated topic since the 1900s. College athletes spend just as much time, if not more time, practicing and devoting time and energy to sports as they do academics. For this, many athletes are rewarded with scholarship money. However, many people believe it is not enough. Should we pay student-athletes a slice of the wealth or is a full-ride scholarship enough? (Business Insider). What if the athlete gets injured? Where does the money come out of to support each athlete’s salary? The huge amount of money being generated from college sports has led some people to think that the athletes are entitled to some of that revenue. While, some think that student-athletes should be paid, others disagree for various reasons.
Many will argue that college athletes do not need to be compensated because they are student-athletes; and the key word for them is student. One argument against paying college athletes is that they are basically receiving a free education from a top school. A four-year scholarship will cover everything a student-athlete needs. This includes: tuition, room and board, books, medical coverage and meals. For example, Duke University costs $57,180 to attend (Bleacher Report, 2013). Those on an athletic scholarship at Duke are receiving a high quality education and are
By only increasing the value of athletes’ scholarships you maintain the integrity of the game while not putting too much extra financial stress on schools. This extra cash also allows athletes to truly and fully have their college expenses taken care of.
As of May 29, 2004 “the NCAA and the U.S. Department of Defense are embarking on a landmark $30 million initiative to enhance the study of student-athletes and service members” (ncaa.org). Beside all the money that the NCAA gives to different studies they also award scholarships and grants. “The NCAA awards more than $10 million in scholarships and grants annually to student-athletes and member institution, in addition to the $2.4 billion allocated to schools to fund athletics scholarships” ( NCAA.org). They are also providing $15 million in grant money over the next three years to fund a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Defense. The NCAA has been giving scholarship since 1964 to help college athletes pursue additional education opportunities. Some of the scholarships are Jim McKay, Walter Byers Postgraduate and Ethnic Minority and Women’s Enhancement Postgraduate. There are a lot of
The average college scholarship is worth about $25,000 dollars a year which is about $100,000 dollars for a student to go to school for all four year they are eligible(Hartnett). That is a good amount of money but lets face it, rarely does any college athlete stay for their entire four years eligibility. A $25,000 dollar scholarship might seem like a lot of money, but it really only covers basics. It covers thousands of dollars in mysterious, unknown university fees, tuition, housing, a meal-plan and multiple hundred-dollar textbooks. Some players, if they come from a low-income household, get a few hundred dollars each semester from Pell Grants which
When I say that student-athletes already receive generous compensation, I mean it. In October of 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made a ruling in a case against the National Collegiate Athletic Association stating that the NCAA is not immune to antitrust regulation and that they were required to increase scholarship payouts to cover the full cost of college attendance (Yankah). The NCAA had permitted this option to schools previously, but this ruling made it a mandatory process. What does a scholarship look like that covers the full cost of college attendance? Allow me to
The college athletes succeed at such a high level, they should be rewarded for their duties. Jeffrey Dorfman, senior writer for Forbes, is one of those on the fine line of wanting to pay the athletes, but at the same time not wanting to pay them. He states “ Student athletes on scholarships are already essentially paid.” He believes that student athletes are getting paid with the scholarship they get, but seeing them rewarded for their hard work would be even better. Scholarships grant student athletes with a place to live, food to eat, a school for education, and all the other essentials. What about that not on scholarship? They do not get the same benefits as those on one. One against paying college athletes is Andrew Sharp, a senior writer for Grantland states “Every Action has Consequences. Someone should explain to college athletes and all the media members out here throwing them a pity party” (Sharp). Although a harsh argument, Sharp failed to realize that for some athletes, scholarships are not paid in full, so they do not get all the benefits. The doubters of he paying college athletes case to re consider their view on this
Most student-athletes playing a sport in college are there on an athletic scholarship. The scholarship is granted to them by their respective schools and is worth anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000. According to Edelman, the football program alone at University of Alabama brought in roughly 143.3 million dollars of revenue. In perspective, that’s about 2 million per player. Even though Alabama is an elite program and brings in more than the average football program, the NCAA brought in nearly $845 billion in 2011 per Sonny. Now it is obvious there many ways a university brings in revenue, but it is safe to say that a player is worth more than that $100,000 scholarship. In fact, a substantial share of college sports’ revenues stay in the hands of a select few administrators, athletic directors, and coaches. Now think about what college athletics would be without the world class athletes it has today, or without any athletes at all. If a school didn’t “award” athletes these scholarships, there would be
Some would say that the athletes are only in it for the money, but there is no way they could only be in it for the money if they had to make the right grades. At every college people have to make the grades to keep the scholarship people are earning. They can’t just receive the scholarship and not work hard to get the good grades. It would be the same with this extra money. The athletes don’t make the grades; therefore, they won’t get the money. There is no doubt that athletes should be paid. It is clear they would benefit from it more than they
Another argument in favor of the extinction of the athletic scholarships is that athletes don’t get enough money to live decently. The financial aid money covers the tuition, fees, living and book expenses (Johnson & Acquaviva, n.d.). Even so research by the Collegiate Athletes Coalition (CAC), a non-profit group of parents interested in helping athletes study in higher education facilities fully sponsored, uncovered a gap of at least $2,000 between the expenses the school pays for and the total of what the student will need over the course of his or her academic life (Johnson & Acquaviva, n.d.). This led some to consider paying athletes. Johnson responded by presenting several options to improve the athletes’ lifestyle by giving them more money (Johnson & Acquaviva, n.d.).
Players who play college sports are sometimes perceived as fortunate and well-off. Many people believe because athletes receive full scholarships, where they don’t have to pay anything for college, they flourish and live a lavish lifestyle. However, in reality, nothing can be further from the truth. College athletes commonly struggle to survive in college because many students are financially dependent. In fact, according to Harnett (2013), most of the student-athletes would have had a difficult time paying for college if it wasn’t for the scholarship. A full athletic scholarship is an opportunity for students to get a free education while also representing a school by playing a sport. However, as previously stated, scholarships do not put