College Student

College student athletes are a select group of men and woman who experience things that most people could only dream of ever experiencing. These athletes also live a very difficult life in college trying to balance athletics as well as work in the classroom. Many regular students don't understand the time and dedication a sport requires. Sports nowadays require hours and hours in the gym to stay at the best physical shape possible and that does not include the hours practiced with the team in whatever sport one is playing. These athletes are required to maintain a certain GPA to participate in their sport with much less time than a regular student to complete the same work with the same quality. This schedule does not include any time for parallel entertainment or for going out with friends. Many regular students maintain a job and have some sort of income while being at school. Student athletes do not have the opportunity to have a job, play sports and maintain a high academic standing. Not being able to work makes living day to day even more difficult for an athlete. College student athletes put so much time and effort into preparation for their sport and into academics this leaves no time for them to have a job. Some of the money these student athletes make for these athletic departments should be used to pay them.

People have their arguments against why college athletes should not be paid for their participation in athletics. One argument that many people like to use as their first reason is that these players are already being paid by getting a full scholarship to attend these schools just for being a part of these athletic programs. Anyone who gets a full scholarship according to these people should not be worried about receiving any type of money because they are getting a great education at no cost. This argument may be true that the schools are paying for their education, but many of these athletes do not go on to graduate from these universities. This argument also does not cover everyday costs that most college students must provide. If a student does not play in division one, it becomes even more difficult because division two and three don't give full scholarships. Division two schools can give partial scholarships and division three schools do not give any type of athletic scholarship. These student athletes are now paying as much as a normal student while having to balance athletics as well all the time being put into academics. Being a student-athlete myself lets me truly experience the difficulties of keeping this balance of sports and academics. This argument of universities paying for ones school may work for some people, but in reality it does not pertain to every college student-athlete.

Another argument against college student athletes being paid is that these players are amateurs and have not earned the right to be paid for participating in a sport. Many people say that they can make all their money when they turn professional and get that big contract. This argument can be completely shut down by the fact that there is such a small percentage of college athletes who actually go on to be a professional, never mind getting that big contract. In the major sports that make up most of the profit to these schools only a very small percentage of these players are actually drafted to their professional leagues. That leaves all those other players without getting a contract to make up for the tough times in college when they had no spending money and leaving them in more debt. Professional athletics is a very large stretch for many of these athletes, so there is no reason why when they are putting in their hard work every day for a university that the university cannot reimburse them with some sort of help. Many students end up with low paying jobs, "According to a salary survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, The actual average starting income for a college graduate with a liberal arts or general studies degree in 2005 is approximately $32,000" (King, Dent). If they are helped out with some money this may relieve some stress and help out with students being more likely to finish their schoolwork and also staying out of trouble. The idea of every student athlete turning professional is unrealistic and can be proven wrong by exact statistics.

A major argument that many people use against why student athletes should not be paid is because of the experience they are allowed to be a part of. They are put on television and everyone around the country knows your name. Marcus Allen, a very good player of his time, saw this exact thing with students suffering having no money:

There were stadiums filled with season-ticket holders coming to see us play, and all the while, too many of those of who the fans came to cheer couldn't even afford to send out for a pizza after the game ... And it created a confusing contradiction. The football players, generally among the most widely known members of the campus community, felt a sense of isolation from the mainstream. All because they were constantly broke and embarrassed to admit it. (Jones, Del N.)

Everyone in the school is going to know who you are because of the experience they are getting being involved with the athletic program. Many of these athletes are coming from difficult situations and don't have much going for them besides sports. Money is usually their biggest problem and without a scholarship they would not even be able to go to college, never mind worrying about being known around campus. When these athletes are not on the field a lot of the time they cannot go out and have a good time with friends because some people are getting help from home or they are working and making money being able to support themselves. Treating these sports as a job for these student athletes giving them a small wage for their efforts would make a true college experience. Not everyone likes being the center of attention and getting the fame and sees that as being successful and happy. Before people make an argument like they have experienced what these players are and know what they want, they should try to experience a year as an athlete and see the struggles and efforts they put in everyday.

After hearing the arguments of the people who are completely against the idea of paying college athletes, we can look to three reasons to support college athletes being paid for their efforts. First, college athletes are not receiving the same education as the normal student