college athletes Essays

Rooslana Rusk
Mrs. Finger
Hour 5
January 31, 2013
Paying for the Playing Did you know that nearly 80% of college athletes are able to earn their degree in college? Of those 80%, more than not are there on athletic scholarships. Playing on a team is already being treated like a professional business rather than a collegiate sport. Each year hundreds of students attend a university paying no tuition, for doing nothing more than playing a sport. Should college athletes receive an annual income on top of all the benefits they already get? Or should they have to get a job if they want more spending money? Athletes already having scholarships, their playing not benefitting anyone, and using university funds to pay them, are all reasons college athletes should not get paid. First of all, college athletes are already attending the school on a large (if not full) scholarship. The athletes are able to go to school for free for merely being on a team and maintaining average grades. The athletic scholarships are usually awarded based on talent, not as much on scholastic merit. This takes care of their tuition which is basically the reward in itself. Since they don’t need to worry about tuition, most of them can use their money for other things like paying rent, or payments on a vehicle perhaps. If the athletes were paid, they would probably not receive as big of a scholarship, so they would have to spend the money they make on school anyways. If they have to pay tuition, with the pay they would receive, they would probably even have to take out a student loan. Also, their playing is purely for the entertainment of others. Being on a sports team is not a full-time career, therefore it does not deserve a regular income. According to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), paying the athletes would result in the team becoming professional, and no longer an amateur sport. In college it is still a school sport and their games are mostly played to entertain the students and alumni that watch. It is not a “job” that is really of use to anyone but the audience. The majority of the athletes have been participating in the sport their whole lives anyways. Most of them played in high school also, and they weren’t paid back then for doing the exact same thing. If they would be paid for entertaining, then other activities such as the performing arts would have to pay their students as well.

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