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Ashley Lenser

English Composition 1101

Professor Brown

November 21, 2020

Should College Athletes be Paid to Play?

College athletes spend a lot of their time practicing to play the sport they love, no doubt.

But, is that really a reason to pay them? If you truly love playing a game, why would you need to

be paid for it? Chances are that if you are playing a sport in college, you started playing at a

young age, and you never were worried about being paid then. These young athletes would

totally lose sight of what playing is all about. My goal is to get logical points across as to why

college athletes should not be getting paid.

If these young adults get paid large amounts of money so soon in life, they will lose sight

of what is really important. Getting an education and learning how to survive on their own are the

primary purposes colleges try to get across to any student who steps foot on their campus. “A

lot of young adults today are impatient and lack the ability to delay gratification. College can

teach them a great life lesson: in real life, you have to work hard and wait for your chance.

Paying big money to any college student, athlete or academic, is far from being the ideal

preparation for life.” (Piccioto, Elad De. “Should College Athletes Get Paid?”

Theperspective.com/, 1 Nov. 2019,

www.theperspective.com/debates/sports/college-athletes-get-paid/.) With that statement being

said, no college attendee should receive any large amount of money for participating in athletics

or the like, because it does nothing to prepare them for what lies ahead. As a matter of fact, it

could have the opposite effect on their overall well-being.

Being a college athlete does come with a lot of benefits. College athletes can receive

something called post eligibility school benefits. This means that if they decide to go back to

college after they have finished their sport, they can. They would have to pay little to no money
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because they played a sport in years previous. If these athletes have this oppurtunity and can

go back to college at a little cost, they should not be paid thousands of dollars on top of that

because of this good benefit. Any other student who attends a college but did not play sport,

does not get that benefit and they would have to pay a lot of money to go back to school to

continue education. Additionally, many universities provide extra academic help to those

students who are dedicating their time to a sport.

Paying athletes would also turn colleges and universities into businesses. “Most college

athletes are on scholarships. They help pay for a student’s schooling while they play the sport

they play. If scholarships were taken out of the idea, and only salaries were only handed out,

then you would think it would be more affordable, right? Wrong. If they gave students salaries,

then it would lead to them paying taxes.” (Rivera, et al. “Rivera, Malik.” ENGL20120, 10 Nov.

2018, inside.ewu.edu/engl201-20/college-athletes-should-not-be-paid/.) If college athletes were

paid, they would just have to end up giving that money back in taxes as well, so they could

potentially be paying out more money depending on what they do.

“Before you know it, college sports will be 100% a business. That being said, that

‘business’ could lead to a decline in other college programs.” (Rivera, et al. “Rivera, Malik.”

ENGL20120, 10 Nov. 2018, inside.ewu.edu/engl201-20/college-athletes-should-not-be-paid/.)

Not only would it be turning into a business, but other programs may have to be cut out and

would ultimately affect the student population as a whole as a result. According to Malik Rivera,

“Other students will get cut short and not get the proper education and college experience. If this

were to happen, it would be even harder for non-athletic students to get the proper care for their

desired major.” I know life is not always fair, but colleges should do their best to try and make

sure their programs cover the needs of the students attending the college. After all, that student

picked the school for a reason and should not be sold short. The schools are also receiving the

money of non-athletes, and it is not cheap, so they should not make promises they cannot keep.
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Most colleges will do anything to get your money, but making promises and not delivering on

those promises will make things much worse for the students and the college.

While I still believe that college students should not be paid, there are people who believe

differently than me. As I previously stated in my first paragraph, college athletes spend a lot of

their time practicing their sport, countless hours goes in to practicing. “To do great things with his

team, a college athlete must make sport his first priority, which leads to him putting fewer hours

into studying than a non-athlete. This impacts his academic performance with long-term effects

in his future professional career.” (Guest Author. “Top 10 Reasons College Athletes Should Be

Paid.” College Sports Madness , 13 Feb. 2020, www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/18319.)

As I could imagine, spending all those hours practicing and playing games will have an impact

on their grades since they will miss some face to face instruction. However, college athletes

knew what they were getting into and knew the expectations. It is made clear, before a

commitment is made, that a lot of time will be dedicated to the sport. There is a choice that each

student athlete has to make. So, if they would have wished to follow their career path by

spending more time studying and working on academics, rather than playing a sport, then they

would have had that option.

While this debate continues and college athletes could potentially be paid, I believe that it

is in the best interest of all if they never do receive money. Not paying them teaches them the

real life lessons from college, keeps them playing for the love of the games and keeps everyone

on the same playing field within the college. If colleges would pay student athletes, it would

deteriorate the college atmosphere and they would be run more like a business. Keeping things

the way they are now and continuing with the way things have always been with college sports

is the best option for everyone from the non-athletes to the athletes.
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Works Cited

Guest Author. “Top 10 Reasons College Athletes Should Be Paid.” College Sports

Madness , 13 Feb. 2020, www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/18319.

Piccioto, Elad De. “Should College Athletes Get Paid?” Theperspective.com/, 1 Nov.

2019, www.theperspective.com/debates/sports/college-athletes-get-paid/.

Rivera, et al. “Rivera, Malik.” ENGL20120, 10 Nov. 2018,

inside.ewu.edu/engl201-20/college-athletes-should-not-be-paid/.