College Athletes Should Be Paid From Their Skills

Imagine working over 50 hours a week or longer and not getting paid for what you do. This is what we expect college athletes to do on a regular basis. Not only do they have to be in college full time, in addition, they commit a full work week of time playing a sport. Students that are going to college should have many ways to pay for college. Since they are enrolled full time and committed to their sport full time, they do not have time to work for pay.

Since they are enrolled full time and committed to a sport full time, then do not have time to get a job. Although many college athletes do receive a partial scholarship to play a sport, the time commitment does not allow them to work in addition to playing. There needs to be a way to bring down tuition costs and to keep the sports competitive.

In an effort to bring down tuition costs and to keep sports competitive college athletes should get paid.

If you play a sport in college it is like a full time job. They train year-round. Playing football in the fall is a year-round time commitment. When athletes are not actively competing, they are training for the next season. Karaim, who writes “40 to 50 hours a week during the season, even more during training camp- and other special demands placed on them mean they are not primarily students who play sports, but laborers working for the University “ (Karaim 579).

Karaim is saying that the athletes that go to college have to put so many hours into the sport that this should become their job and they should get paid for the work they do.

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The students train year around because they have to do training camps and practice for a certain amount each week and season. When you are involved in a sport, there is no extra time to work for pay. Many scholarships have restrictions preventing college athletes from committing their time to anything else. “In addition, while under scholarship, athletes are subject to an array of NCAA rules that restrict their ability to earn outside income, accept gifts or profit by selling autographs or memorabilia connected to their role as a player” (Karaim 580). Athletes have many rules and restrictions that they must follow with their time commitment, and scholarship language prevents them from using their time for anything other than playing that sport. Even if the athlete had time to get a job, scholarship contracts prohibit them from committing their time to anything other than the sport with which they received their scholarship. With all of the rules NCCA has built-in their scholarships and the time commitment required year round to play a sport, college athletes do not have no time to get a job.

Another argument for paying college athletes is that it will bring down the overall cost of college the athlete will have to pay out of pocket. Right now, college athletes are caught in a double-bind. Colleges should either give students that play a sport a full ride or college should not charge tuition fees. “Division I teams often spend large amounts of money recruiting the best players and coaches. Although players are not paid, they are often given athletic scholarship to attend college (“Paying College Athletes: Should the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) pay college athletes”). The top college sports are looking for the best players to play for them so they should get paid for the hard work they are doing for the school. College should give students a full ride or free tuition because of how much they have to put into playing the sport. Also, the school is looking for the best players and the players should get something for how hard they work to become who they are now. Colleges should pay them to play so they can pay tuition. “At league meetings the other day, he talked about wanting to consider the possibility of paying scholarship athletes a stipend of somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 to the full cost of attending college _ travel, clothing, spending money” (Hofmann). Hoffman’s point is that if schools gave athletes a stipend, it would replace the need for students to work outside. This figure is roughly what non-athletic students make working jobs while attending college. Colleges should give their athletes a salary so they can pay their tuition bills to the school. If colleges pay athletes for playing a sport, then they would be able to pay their tuition bills and not have loans to pay back when they graduate from college.

In addition, paying college athletes for the work they do while playing a sport would show them that their time commitment is valued, treating college athletes like pros. “Treating college players like pros would encourage them to follow the same high standard of moral conduct as professional athletes” (The Pros And Cons Of Paying College Athletes). If the colleges treat the players like pros then that would make them work harder and want to play better. If they play like pros then they should be treated like pros which means they should get paid to play. They do get all of your materials proved to them if they are a college athlete. “College athletes do receive payment or compensation in terms of athletic scholarship, which, if they are full scholarship, covers tuition, room, board, textbooks, and various other university-related fees” (Garcia). Garcia is saying that the students that play sports should get everything covered for them to help them make the cost of school cheaper. Some colleges will not even proved them with the materials they need to help them pay off the bills that the school gives them every year. Players on the team do get payed for all the hard work they put into the sport.

Finally, paying students would only make the sport more competitive. Students that go to the highest division will get more competitive. “Division I is the biggest and most competitive NCAA division. Colleges that compete in Division I must offer scholarships — many of them full — to their student-athletes” (Playing Sports in College: Your Options). The higher the division is the more competitive the sport is and therefore, the harder it is to make it. This will make people work harder and want to achieve more to go to the highest divisions. Students that want to go to the highest division become more competitive and want to work harder to get to play at that level. The students work very hard to get to the highest division they can to play the sport in college.

Some may argue college athletes should not be payed. If students get payed to play in college then their priorities change. Blake Williams, a contributing writer for Forbes Magazine states that, “College athletes receive a scholarship for their services, they don’t necessarily receive an education”(Williams). However, there is no published resource that shows that this happens. Another objection to paying college athletes is there is not enough money to pay the athletes. Andrew Zimbalist stated in the Huffington Post, “Paying athletes a salary will again constitute a doubling of the financial burden and lead to large deficits over a long transition period”(Zimbalist). Most colleges are over-paying the athletes a salaries that employees get. The universities are paying the athletes a salary that employees would make. “Paying athletes salaries as University employees is impractical, given the complex set of ancillary issues that option raises”(Reed). They are paying them a salary to help bring down the cost of the school. They work just as hard as any employee that works at the school.

In conclusion, college athletes should get paid to play the sport for the school they are going to. If you play a sport in college it is like a full time job. Also, paying college athletes will bring down the overall cost of college that the athlete will have to pay out of pocket, and paying college athletes for the work they do while playing a sport would show them that their time commitment is valued. Finally, paying students would only make the sport more competitive.