Why Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay

1724 Words7 Pages

Katie Hill
Mrs. Gallos
English 3 Honors
20 March, 2018
Should Athletes Be Paid? College athletes in the United States have been struggling with the fact that their job allows them to work just as many hours a week than a regular job does, but they do not receive any income from it. This conflict amongst athletes has been around since the 1980’s and continues to be of issue to most college athletes today. Supporters say that college athletes are the one’s out their making all the money for all the coaches and universities and it is unfair that the player’s do not receive any of the income; whereas, non-supporters say that college athletes get their stay at the colleges paid for along with many other privileges that normal college students do not receive, therefore, there is no unfairness. Our society today is so focused on a money filled world that that is all these young, adult, college, athletes care about; they can not see past the real privileges they are undertaking by being an athlete. When an athlete receives a full-ride scholarship from a college, the college pays for the students tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies, and …show more content…

College athletes train everyday and most of the time more than once a day as well and on top of game days. Certain sports even work more hours than a full time job. “ The typical Division I college football player devotes 43.3 hours per week to his sport -- 3.3 more hours than the typical American work week” (Edelman). This meaning that college athletes do not have time for outside jobs or even homework for their classes. They may have a scholarship that helps them out tremendously but if they do not have time for a job, they are not going to have enough money for any food or activities. With their sports taking up as many hours as a regular job does, the sport should be considered a job, therefore, paying the student