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Trevor Maybin

Mrs. Rogers

English 3 Honors

November 9, 2017

College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

A controversial topic in the world of modern-day sports, entertainment, and society is

whether college student-athletes should be paid for their athletic efforts. College athletics makes

up a very large industry in this country. In fact, college athletic programs generate multiple

billions of dollars in revenue every year. Because of this, many people, especially these athletes,

believe that the “workers” contributing to the revenue should be paid (Reschke). Their argument

compares college athletes to employees in any business that earn a paycheck for their efforts.

However, there is another stance that they should not be paid. The reasoning behind this is that

students with the athletic ability to play well enough to earn this money would likely already

have a scholarship, whether it be partial or full. These can be very beneficial to the student and

his or her family because a price cannot be placed on the importance of education. Not only are

scholarships available, but there are also stipends for some of these athletes. Many people do not

realize the importance of stipends to these athletes, but they are basically a salary to these

athletes. Stipends usually range anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000 per school year, but some

schools offer much more than that. College athletes should not be paid extra money because

many of them already earn scholarships, as well as some stipends from their respectable schools.

Scholarships are an incentive often given to college students if they are fortunate enough

to receive them, whether it be for athletics, academics, or financial need. Scholarships, usually in

the form of thousands of dollars per year, help the families of those who receive them because
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they allow money that could be used toward tuition to be used for their extra desires and/or

necessities. “Full athletic scholarships pay for tuition, books, plus room and board, but not other

costs.”(Greenlee) The want for scholarships is high, especially for families that are not as

financially advantaged as others. Unfortunately, athletic scholarships, especially full tuition

scholarships, are often exclusive and hard to obtain. Since scholarships already take money from

the school and give it to athletics, a salary should not be needed. This is another controversial

topic because many assume that most of a school’s money goes to athletics, rather than other

entities, such as academics or fine arts programs. This assumption, however, does not push many

away because viewing college athletics, especially football and basketball, is a favorite activity

of many citizens in the United States of America. This is what makes the industry so wealthy and

successful.

Stipends are monetary supplements given to college athletes in addition to scholarships

they may earn. As previously mentioned, stipends are basically already a salary for athletes.

Sometimes when athletes earn scholarships, they may have everything covered when it comes to

necessities, including books, dorm room, and a meal plan. However, if there are extra items they

want, such as snacks or school supplies, their scholarship will not cover that. “A normal full

athletics scholarship covers tuition, books, and room and board. Full cost of attendance includes

estimated cost of living expenses and travel, both of which vary significantly among institutions”

(Lattimer). Stipends give extra money to athletes for things like late night snacks or drinks or

anything for that matter, and they are not stingy amounts either. They usually range from around

$2,000 to $5,000. Students who are given scholarships for academics achievements are not given

stipends, and full tuition scholarships are even more rare than those given to athletes. Because of
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this and scholarships, student-athletes do not deserve to have even more compensation for their

efforts.

On the other hand, one could argue that college athletes should be paid extra money even

if they are earning scholarships or receiving stipends. Since college athletics are so successful,

the athletes should earn a portion of the profit coming from their hard work. “The television

networks pay billions to the NCAA. That more than covers the operating expenses and high-

dollar salaries. There's enough money to provide the student-athletes with a relative few bucks

just to help them stay above the poverty line” (Sangimino). Athletes producing on the field or the

court are what attracts people to sports. Therefore, the athletes are doing most of the work, so

they should earn money for their work. College athletes are spending all their time working in

their respective sports and going to school that they do not have time to obtain a job to earn

money for their own spending.

“Many of them come from impoverished backgrounds. They are not gifted students.

Schoolwork is a grind for them. They are brought to campuses with full knowledge they

will never graduate. They are there simply for their athletic abilities. And still, we ask

them to try to adapt to new surroundings. They lift weights early each morning - before

class. They take care of their coursework in the morning. Then comes football practices

that are physically demanding. Team meetings come next, which are followed by dinner

and study hall. No normal student has nearly as regimented a schedule. It's the equivalent

of two full-time jobs.” (Sangimino)

While some college students get a college job to have some extra money, athletes usually do not

have the time to do this. “College is expensive, and even with a scholarship, students need
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money for incidentals -- gasoline, car payments and insurance, for example. Students who aren't

playing sports have more available time to work part-time jobs to pay for such incidentals

because they aren't tied up by consuming training schedules.” (Tulsa World) Since a lot of

athletes come from impoverished backgrounds, they do not have a lot of money to bring with

them once they go off to school. A study in 2013 “concluded that 86% of college athletes live

below the poverty line.”(Williams) This is why many families rely on their son or daughter’s

athletic ability to put them through school to obtain higher education. Thus, schools offer

scholarships and stipends, but for some this is not enough financial support, and more would be

an extreme help.

Scholarships and stipends serve as enough monetary value to athletes, so that they would

not need to be paid a salary. Once colleges and universities earn enough profit to satisfy all the

needs of the school, then they may consider paying these athletes a salary, rather than just

scholarships and stipends. There may come a time when athletes can be drafted straight to

professional and major leagues out of high school, which would reward athletes more quickly for

their efforts in their respective sports. Major League Baseball already offers this option, but other

large, well-known sports leagues, such as the NFL or the NBA, do not allow this. “The NFL

requires players to wait three years after graduating high school before they can apply to the

professional drafts. The NBA says players must be 19 and one year out of high school” (NCAA).

Many people believe that this will eventually happen, but an NFL spokesperson has already

made it clear that they have no plans for this in the near future. At this point in time, the current

model is adequate, and athletic salaries should be restricted to professionals only, regardless of a

college’s revenue. In all reality, the future of college sports and paying athletes is likely going to

depend on what happens with the industry in the next few years.
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In conclusion, there are a variety of reasons why collegiate student-athletes should or

should not be compensated for their athletic abilities. College athletics programs generate a

tremendous amount of revenue for their respective universities due to the efforts of their student-

athletes on the field or court. Many argue that for this reason, the athletes should be rewarded

and paid back for their contributions to the success of the college. These same people also argue

that if student-athletes were able to earn a salary in a professional league straight out of high

school, they should be able to be compensated monetarily in college sports as well. On the other

hand, scholarships and stipends are adequate amounts of money that other college students may

not be entitled to. Given that there is no price that can be placed on a quality education, these

scholarships can be invaluable to a student-athlete’s future, especially if they do not make it to a

professional league upon graduation. At this time, college athletes should not be compensated in

excess of scholarships and stipends for their athletic efforts.

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Works Cited

Big College Conferences Seek Stipends for Athletes. 17 Dec. 2013,

web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=696e9d13-76d7-4c53-98a4-

2bf41ae17adc%40sessionmgr4010&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLGN1c3R1aWQmY3V

zdGlkPXM4NDU1ODYxJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=2W617

83341401&db=n5h. (Tulsa World)

Jenkins, Sally. "A Major Gain for College Sports?." Washington Post, the, June 0010.

EBSCOhost,

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db=n &AN=wapo.0ccd523a-ef86-11e0-b485-5507f14ca85f&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Greenlee, Craig T. STUDENT-ATHLETES AT WORK. 6 Feb. 1997,

web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=817d2765-42ab-4157-83a5-

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Latimer, Powell. "NCAA Schools Must Decide If They'll Offer Stipends to Athletes."

News & Record (Greensboro, NC), 04 July 2015. EBSCOhost,

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"NCAA: Pro Leagues Should Allow Athletes to Be Drafted in High School." UPI Sports, 02 Oct.

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Reschke, Michael. "Is It Time to Pay College Athletes for Their Work?." Herald-Times,

(Bloomington, IN), 11 Mar. 2015. EBSCOhost,

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Sangimino, Pat. "Money Rules in College Athletics." Hutchinson News (KS), 11 Sept. 2013.

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Williams, Armstrong. "WILLIAMS: The Exploitation of College Athletes." The Washington

Times. The Washington Times, 06 Apr. 2014. Web. 05 Jan. 2018.