The Importance Of College Scholarships

Some college athletes are basically being paid if they get a full ride to play sports, and they don’t really need the money. The amount of money the college athletes would be paid and the money from getting a full ride there wouldn’t be much of

College sports have a big market on the major school levels. These major schools can bring in 30 to 40 million dollars per year to the school through the athletic programs. The players get none of this share of money even though they are the ones who have to put themselves at risk during these tough games that provide the school profit. You may say that these college athletes are getting a free education at their choice of university but some many say they should get paid. Today as much money that runs in and out of these schools there is a huge controversy to whether or not these student athletes should get rewarded for their hard work on and off the

Do you want to get paid for playing a sport in college? (http://www.experienceproject.com/question-answer.php) College players should receive some payment for playing for their schools. College athletes put their bodies on the line each game they play, paying college athletes would help to begin creating a sense of financial awareness, (https://smartasset.com/retirement/should-student-athletes-be-paid ) and some athletes don't have enough money to pay for food or stuff they need and with the money they have left over they can buy things.

We often forget that playing a sport is not the only way to earn a scholarship. Many students are accepted for exceptional grades, involvement in the band, clubs, or being well rounded. Most of these students just have to study to keep their scholarship, while the athletes have to work hard and be a student. In a competitive market, “workers” are paid according to the value of the output they produce (Heath). It does not seem right that the college journalist can sell their piece to a paper for extra cash, or the local band can play for a few dollars at the bar Saturday night, or the biology major that takes an internship at the school lab can be profitable yet college athletes cannot. Under the NCAA they are not allowed to make any money of their skill. Any college student should be able to endorse products (Wilbon). This is why the idea of going to school for free should not be an argument against paying athletes, because that is not the case and they have earned it.

Now, paying these athletes doesn’t have to be for everyone. Only the high caliber, D1 athletes. The D1 athletes put in all this time and effort to get a scholarship, but don’t see any money. Now that’s not right. These D1 caliber players don’t come around all the time. There are not many of them. Plus the schools that do have these players are super rich. “These teams not only provide their supporters with a steady source of entertainment, but their performance also helps bring notoriety and pride to the universities they represent. College athletics, especially the so-called "revenue sports" of men 's basketball and football, is now a multi-million dollar business that is marketed, packaged, and sold in the same manner as other commercial products” (Acain).

The NCAA states that the student athletes are paid in the form of an education, but this is not always true. There have been many instances in which student-athletes have graduated with grade school reading levels or never graduated because they were not directed to pursue any specific degree path (Marquette sports law journal). The emphases of winning in collegiate sports use to be for moral. College sports now are a very lucrative business and a lot of it comes from being on television and through sponsorship. Nike is going to endorse the teams that win over the teams that lose. College athletics has been estimated to be a $60 billion industry (McCormick). Universities are all too willing to try and get a piece of this huge industry.

$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.

Student athletes in college are held to a higher standard than normal students since they are juggling a lot more in their lives. Student athletes have to set aside a lot of time for practice while still maintaining good grades and a social life. Some people believe that because of this demanding schedule that student athletes should be paid. Where on the other hand many believe that they shouldn’t since they choose to be on a sports team, this is a topic that is debated upon by many. One solution could be to lower the tuition for student athletes since they are offering their talents to the school. As long as the students stay on the team they will get some money off their college tuition every year.

This leaves basically give no time to earn money. The way life is for a student athlete is very different from what a regular student’s life is. A student-athlete is required to attend practice for 10 to 20 hours per week which is around 4 hours a day, traveling to games everywhere throughout the season, and at the same time, having to deal with the same amount of academic work as regular students. Everyone who is against paying student-athletes rely on the fact that they get paid through scholarships, so apparently they're already getting paid. Yes, a scholarship indeed is a form of compensation. A scholarship is good to have, but it is not enough to go through life as a student-athlete. A scholarship will not cover the bills. Not only that but, unlike regular students without athletics, student-athletes must also most of the time take care of their families and spouses. Believe it or not many student athletes are married, and most of the athletes married have children. The students which don’t have spouses or children, most of them have to care for parents and siblings.

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).

Furthermore, paying student athletes would alter the principles of collegiate sports. As before stated, college sports were believed to develop “competitors who were morally superior to professionals” (“Amateur”). Playing college sports, as an amateur, has long been regarded as a huge opportunity for the student athlete. It offers an athlete the chance to compete at a higher level of competition, while at the same time receiving a college education. For example, the article “For the Love of the Game” discusses athletes competing at Division II and Division III collegiate levels. He explains the situations of just a few individuals who currently compete for schools while receiving no little to no benefits. The athletes pay their way through school, yet they are nothing less than grateful to have the opportunity to compete in collegiate sports (Shipnuck 1). But more than ever, student athletes are making crucial decisions based upon money. A payment system would only intensify the student athlete’s urge to make decisions based upon money-luxuries. The student athlete’s motivation to compete in collegiate athletics would drastically change. Paying athletes would create an incentive for athletes to attend college for athletics rather than to receive an education. The student athlete would now be

To add onto this argument, college athletes also get many exquisite privileges that the common college student does not get. These privileges range from world-class professional training, being showcased in front of prospective employers, free medical care, free head-to-toe Nike or Adidas gear, free traveling, hotel rooms, and many other privileges (Jenkins 2011). They get all of these free things, privileges, and scholarships for just playing a sport. That is a lot more than any of college student. Overall, people do not want to pay college athletes because they already get paid through scholarships and all the privileges they receive for playing

College athletes should not be paid. “ They argue that the main purpose of going to college is to get a education, not to make money” (“Should college”...1). College is not a job, it is a place to learn. Also many college athletes receive scholarships to attend that school. “The value of the scholarships athletes receive during four years of college can be well over $250,000” (Weiss et al.1). Therefore, athletes

Student athletes commonly go to school for one reason: their love for the sport they participate in. These student athletes get scholarships from large Division 1 schools, which means things such as schooling, board, and food will be paid for by the school so the student athletes do not have to pay for these benefits themselves (Patterson). If college athletes are to be paid, it will cause unfair compensation between players who are valued or played more than others. When student athletes are rewarded with a scholarship, they have nothing school related that they would need to pay for. This can lead them to blow all of their income on unnecessary or dangerous things such as drugs and alcohol which could get them removed from the team 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.).