College Athletes Compensation How would you feel if you were to perform and work as hard as you could but have all of the money that results from your hard work go to someone else, and you get none of it? Division I college athletes not being compensated for their efforts is a major problem. Universities and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) profit around $6 billion annually off of college athletes; meanwhile these athletes do not see any of this money and may even go to bed hungry. These student athletes put their bodies and health on the line when they step out for their sports and often have to pay a lifetime of medical bills, and do not get any help with this. When trying to provide for themselves, students are …show more content…
The reasoning for the objections can include that “they are just amateurs,” and that they “should be grateful to receive a free education.” For the people who say that they are amateurs, college athletics is just as big of a business as professional sports are, but the difference is that all of the money in college sports go to the athletic directors, coaches, commissioners, and NCAA instead of going to the players. Also, they spend roughly forty hours a week playing, practicing, and training for their sport, which is almost as much as a typical job. That means that their Division I sport is technically their job, so shouldn’t they be compensated for it? Regarding the argument that student athletes should be grateful they receive a free education, this “free education” is only free for so many people. Most athletes are not on full scholarship, which means that they do not get their education 100% for free. Even if some athletes do get any level of scholarship, it is only free for so long. If an athlete does not perform at a high level or if they get hurt, they can easily have that scholarship taken away, and they are left with nothing. These student athletes are supposedly “amateurs” and blessed with “free education,” but in reality, this is not the case. Student athletes should definitely be compensated and recognized for their efforts. Between the amounts of money the NCAA makes off of them; the fact that if they get injured they are left with nothing; the reality that these student athletes treat their sports as a job, putting in the same work, but do not get paid and cannot get a job, they should be