The NCAA Shouldn’t Compensate College Athletes Ever since the creation of collegiate sports, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has been under discussion weather to pay college athletes in addition to their scholarships. The topic heated up in 1973 when the NCAA came out with a rule that set a limit to the amount of scholarships an athletic program can offer to students. This started speculations that the NCAA was being unfair to students deserving of the scholarships. With college sports growing to colossal levels since then and generating billions of dollars along the way, many are arguing that it is time for the NCAA to share their revenue with the athletes who help get them that money. Paying collegiate athletes would …show more content…
First off, if college athletes were to actually be paid, it would not be a whole lot. Most recent discussions involve the athletes getting somewhere around $5,000 a year if they even were to be paid (Goldman). It would definitely not be enough to where you would have money to live off of for a long period of time if something happened such as a serious injury. This is why the athletes are granted athletic scholarships so they get a 100% free education. What is better to have something to fall back on, a free education that can lead you to a career, or a couple thousand dollars? These athletes are getting free tuition, room & board, money for books, and an unlimited meal/snack plan. Most of them are on four-year scholarships but if an athlete “redshirts”, (meaning they don’t participate in any games or real competition but still are a part of the team and practice) they can be granted a 5-year scholarship that covers all expenses. These scholarships can surmount to be almost $100,000 (Goldman). So even if an athlete suffers an injury that ends their athletic career, they have a college degree to fall back on instead of a couple thousand