An Argument in Favor of Paying College Athletes

College athletes are one of the most precious ornaments that a college can ever have. So, what does college athlete really mean? College athletes are those athletes who participate in an organized sport sponsored by a union or institution where they must balance the roles of being a student and athletes. They work and train hard each day to bring their best and to see their college at the top of what they play. College athletes are considered as a full-time employee, but they never get paid.

Many people argue they shouldn’t be paid. However, a college athlete should be paid. The thing that many people and administrators say is “The college athletes have a huge amount of scholarship that is nearly more than anyone could ever get. If they are getting this much, they shouldn’t be greedy at all.” They say that the amount of scholarship that the athletes get is more than enough for them. They also state that getting them paid will shift their concentration.

But this is not the real fact. The scholarship that they get won’t be valid after they are out of the team. They give their time more on sports than on their study for the university or the college.

According to an article by Tyson Hartnett in The Blog, the scholarship that the athletes get covers the unknown university’s fees, tuition, housing, a meal-plan and multiple text books. He says that they must suffer politics and injuries which results in dropping them from the team.

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This takes their scholarship from them and later they get transferred out. He also states that many athletes work part-time because they require extra money for their day to day activity. They must go to training, must study, and then work till the late night (Harnett). As clarified in an article “21 Reasons Why Student-Athletes are Employees and Should be Allowed to Unionize” by Marc Edelman, college athletes work for nearly 43.3 hours a week which is 3.3 hours more than the typical American work week. He also states that these athletes need to give up their many classes which results in less grade and the thing that they get in return is just name (Edelman). So, if athletes are paid they can save some and use it in later stage for their study even if they are out of the team. Many people consider the opportunity of playing college sports is a privilege for many high school athletes.

According to Dave Anderson, it is a dream of most of the high school athletes to get in college athletes. However, only 7 percent of them get a chance to be there. Also, about 2 percent of them play in Division 1 school (Anderson). Many people claim that this is a dream of many who couldn’t achieve it and take it as a pathway to their career in sports. They also claim that this is a matter of pride for the students because not everyone gets this opportunity and will change if college athletes are paid. This fact is undeniable. But this thinking has also got the two sides. People only see the positive side. Yes, it is a pathway for them for their career and a matter of pride for them. Let’s think about how many college athletes have got their career in sports. According to Scott Morgan, the chances of going from college to the professional level were less than 2 percent. 1.7 percent of college football players, 1.3 percent of college hockey players, 1.2 percent of college basketball players play professionally (Morgan). This clearly shows how many college athletes have gone to make it in the professional level. Why has this happened? Very less people know about this. Abigail Cohn, professor at The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, says that college athletes get nothing expect scholarship. They work hard for the game and focus less on their study, and many scholarships are taken away from them because they cannot meet the GPA criteria. Many students get dropped out from the college because of this.

Many students don’t get a good job as they have low grades in their degree as well (Cohn). Playing for college is a privilege but this privilege won’t earn them their future as we saw very less athletes going to pro and many getting dropped because of less focus towards study. Many universities and people have continuously been saying that the money that colleges make through sports are all spent to some sorts of use. By saying this they mean that they won’t have enough money to pay athletes. Brendon L. Wilson writes in Wisdom, “Colleges have to afford the lights, maintain it and afford any other needs. And, if they decide to pay athletes, they won’t be able to maintain the standard of all the facilities required for sports (Wilson). People argue that it is obvious that the lights and all facilities require a lot of funds and college cannot afford these if they pay athletes. This might seem true. But the real fact is hidden. Colleges make a lot of money from sports much more than we anticipate them to make. Honestly speaking, college sports are more business than an opportunity providing medium. Contracts between media, a franchise and all make tons of money for the colleges which we cannot even think of. According to a survey conducted by The Washington Post, the combined income of the sports department of USA College increased by double in ten years i.e. from 2006-2016. It clearly shows that colleges are making more money than ever but, still hesitate to pay their athletes because it is a business for them and they want to get more.

The point of the affording the facilities is expensive makes no sense at all as they are getting more and more dollars in. This is just an example. It happens all over the world. College athletes are ornaments of a college and they help colleges to take the name of college at the top level. They spend their time, energy and provide full dedication just for colleges’ name. They do this much of the task, but never get paid. This will one day demotivate them towards sports. Because of not being paid, many are compelled to leave sports as they don’t see any future in it. So, all the colleges should initiate steps to pay their athletes. It is not that they need to pay them a huge amount. The amount that will help them run their life easily can help maintain their confidence and play. This issue has always been going on and without any conclusion. Since, college athletes represent the college among many people nationally and internationally, they should get paid.