College Athletes Can Not be Paid For far too long the dark cloud of compensating college athletes has hung over college athletics. This debate has waged for years, but has increased in recent years as the money that the NCAA and the universities are making off of the student athletes and their accomplishments, is on the rise. Most of these athletes will not play in the major professional sports leagues in the United States. For example, only 1.6% of division one college football players get drafted into the NFL, furthermore only 1.2% of men's basketball players get drafted into the NBA (“Estimated Probability”). But with most of the athletes that are playing at the highest level of college sports, their education is being almost entirely paid for. These athletes should be trying to set up a life after their respective athletic careers are over. The student athlete gets to enjoy the gift of a near free of cost education, using their athletic talents to pay for their education, and the perks that go along with …show more content…
That number can be even larger if the athlete chooses to attend a private university. USA TODAY financial analysts estimated, that these athletes receive close to $120,000 in goods and services and subsequent earnings power (Berkowitz and Weiner). This amount of money includes the athletes academic scholarship, equipment and clothing, health insurance coverage, strength and conditioning programs, and dedicated academic counselors (Berkowitz and Weiner). All of these goods and services are not accessible to the average college student. For instance, if an athlete injures their knee and has to have surgery the university covers the cost of not only the surgery, but any hospital stay and any completed rehabilitation. The athletes are some of the greatest assets to the universities, and make the NCAA large amounts of