Why Do College Athletes Stipends

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Stipends for College Athletes More than 420,000 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student athletes compete in sports every year (“Probability of competing”). College sports have become popular among young athletes in the last couple decades. While nonprofessional athletes who play at the college level are gaining attention and popularity, people have to realize that these athletes represent schools and are not professionals. In January, the NCAA’s five richest conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC) voted to allow their eighty schools to offer players stipends, or fixed allowances, in addition to scholarships that cover the full cost of attendance (Kelly). The full cost of attendance includes the student athlete’s …show more content…
Many people relate the college experience to not having money to spare. Why should going to college to turn professional in sports differ from going to medical school intending to be a doctor or receiving a masters degree in education to be a collegiate professor? Going professional in a sport should be equal to a college as earning a degree and entering any other workforce as a professional. Athletes who turn professional are going to make plenty of money anyway. For example, the average National Basketball Association player makes about 5.15 million dollars per year (Isidore). College athletes can take out loans, as can any other college students, and athletes who turn pro will have an easier way of paying off college loans than most other college students. The NCAA this year is allowing schools to give cash stipends to cover the cost of goods like late-night snacks, student fees, laundry money and movies (Isidore). These pre-professional college athletes do not need money any more than other students attending a college do. In conclusion, college athletes, even if they are turning professional, should not receive stipends when other college students who intend on graduating to a professional field do