Essay On Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

1108 Words5 Pages

Do you ever wonder if its fair that college athletes bring in billions of dollars to their schools and to the NCAA, but they don't receive any money at all? The topic of whether to pay college athletes or not has been a trending topic for quite some time. The major question is, should these athletes be receiving more than just a scholarship? Imagine being a NCAA athlete and seeing a jersey with your name and number is selling in the stores for over $100, and it might even be bringing in more revenue than most professional sports jerseys, and not receiving any sort of compensation. This is a problem that that a lot of college athletes in today's world are facing. Because the NCAA is receiving billions of dollars based on the performance of their …show more content…

Nevertheless, the chances of receiving a full or even a partial scholarship is next to impossible. The odds of receiving a scholarship in many major sports are lower than the chances of being admitted in both Harvard University and Yale University. In an article posted by The Sporting News, Hayes shares a report that states, "86 percent of college athletes live below the poverty line." (Hayes). In addition to having to live under the poverty line, they are to balance their life between academics and athletics. In an article posted by The Daily Californian, Goethals states, "In reality, college athletes graduate at a far lower rate than normal students: It was found that men's Division I basketball players have a 23 percent lower graduation rate than other students." (Goethals). If such a high percentage of college athletes are less likely to graduate due to their extremely busy schedule, providing them with an academic scholarship is merely useless. If they were compensated, it would boost their graduation rate because they wouldn't be nearly as tempted to pursue professional sports rather than finishing their