The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a multi-billion dollar industry. The NCAA website states that ?student-athletes who receive athletics scholarships receive an amount covering a portion of these costs. Many student-athletes also benefit from academic scholarships, NCAA financial aid programs such as the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund and need-based aid such as Federal Pell Grants.? Yes, it seems backwards that the collegiate athletes bring in the money, and yet they do not get paid a single penny. The only one?s getting paid are the coaches. Most of these athletes receive scholarships that leaves them paying absolutely nothing to go to a University. If you pay college athletes on top of that, it would be too much.
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The average cost to go to a university is about $25,000 each year, according to College Data.com! To attend a four year university, that is about $100,000.
What’s the Price Tag for a College Education?
College expenses range from tuition to housing to bus passes. See how all these costs add up to a college’s “sticker?
www.collegedata.com
Almost all college athletes get scholarship money to play for a university. If you consider athletes who get full rides, instead of paying 100 grand, they pay absolutely nothing. Most people would agree that these college athletes are already getting paid!
These college athletes also get free food on their meal plans. Players also get free housing on campus with teammates that is completely paid for. Also, they get free styled clothing for spirit wear from big brands such as Nike. I played sports all my life, and that sounds like a dream come true!
Spirit Wear: Florida State University
College is meant for students to learn. It is not a job. It is not meant for student athletes to get paid. That is what the professional level is for. School comes first before any extracurricular activity, such as sports. If any athlete were to get injured where they could never play their sport again, they must realize that school must be their only focus. Also, most injured athletes that will not get better lose their scholarships, and must transfer to a different college because they cannot financially afford to go to their original university.
If colleges were to pay student athletes, players would start prioritizing sports over academics. This would happen because schools would obviously be paying more to the athletes who are more talented at their sport, which would cause less attention to their studies. This also cannot happen because the line drawn between amateur and professional would weaken.
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Former division 1 college basketball player, Cody McDavis, from the University of Northern Colorado, speaks on the issue of paying college athletes. He says if the universities start paying athletes, it comes at a cost. No college will have enough funds for that, so they will have to start cutting other programs that do not make enough revenue such as women?s sports and other men?s sports that do not include men?s football and basketball. This causes other problems to arise such as unhappy athletes because their sport is getting cut.
Paying athletes is not the solution. All of the money that athletes are indirectly paid with scholarship money, food, clothing, and much more is a great fortune for the players. You cannot pay amateurs as it will weaken the line between them and professionals.
