Collegiate Athletes Should Be Paid and Compensated

Daniel Bateson

October 7th, 2018

PHI-105

Greg Mallory

Collegiate Athletes Should be Paid and Compensated

There are multiple views and points on if college athletes should be compensated for the actions they perform while playing their respective sport. For years there have been multiple arguments regarding the facts on if the student athletes should be compensated or not with a lot of pros and cons arising from the arguments. College athletes should be compensated for what they do for the college or school because in all honesty it is like a full time job. They contribute almost 40 hours per week, not if more, to their designated athletics. Multiple sporting events are causing athletes to miss class, some up to a total of a ¼. Lastly, like a business, an athlete makes money for the college they attend for being the face or faces of the universities.

        How would you like it if you had to contribute almost 40 hours a week for something and not get compensated for it? Whether it be some sort of benefit or pay, most 40 hour work weeks have some sort of compensation. Although there are some part time jobs where employees put in about 40 hours a week, all full time require the minimum 40 hours. Most of the student athletes may have a part time job or internship on the side to help them get by since they are not getting paid, also all of their free time is gone. “Theoretically a student athlete (with the exception of football players) cannot be engaged in athletic related activities for more than 20 hours per week in a season. These twenty hours do not however, include travel time, time spent in the training room, time spent training alone, ‘volunteer’ activities in which a player represents the team with or without a coach present, community service, or fund raising activities.”-Randy Bertolas. That could easily add up to about 40 hours per week, maybe even more. Some full time jobs even make money off of their employees as colleges make from apparel that the students wear.

        With some employer and companies making some sort of compensation off of their employees, you would figure colleges would give their athletes some sort of compensation besides room and board. According to The Whole Nine Yards, “In NCAA Division I football, for example, if a college team qualified for the College Football Playoff Berth, the earning potential for a university could reach in the millions.” If a player or employee makes the college or university money, then they should be rewarded with some sort of compensation. Along with winning games, selling apparel and tickets also helps the university build more revenue and make more money. As these colleges rip the money right out from under these athletes, they are also causing them to miss some vital and precious classroom time as well which can drastically affect their futures.

        A big part of college is what goes down in the classroom, and according to multiple sources athletes are forced to miss up to a total of ¼ of class room time. If they miss too much time that can mess them up, especially if they do not make it professionally. They could fall short in the classroom and not learn as much as the other athletes. Missing classes can also add to the stress level that the college athletes have to already deal with. Just like a career, being a college athlete will make you miss vital moments in your life, in this specific case, classroom time, and that can stunt ones learning growth. The more athletes miss class, the easier it will be for them to end up dropping or failing out of class and maybe even school in general. Having something for compensation might weigh this out.