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Jorge Ocampo
English 101
Fall 2018
12/8/2018

Compensation For Student Athletes

Imagine using your talents to make a lot of money for someone else, but not being able to use

your own talents to make some for yourself. This is what all college athletes go through every time

they play for their respective sport. The NCAA has a policy that doesn’t allow college athletes to be

paid because they are viewed as amatuer players. However, if they truly felt that way then they

wouldn’t make so much revenue off of these players. “The NCAA is being accused of violating

their own rules of amateurism, selling the rights to the players that they're supposed to protect"

(Paying College Athletes 1). The NCAA isn’t following even their own policies because they are

benefitting and profiting way too much from these college athletes. Due to the fact that NCAA is

making money off of the college athletes, they should be paid a salary.

To begin with, the NCAA Makes money off of the well known college athletes by using

the likenesses of the players to gain and profit off of them. Some universities often sell their

team jersey with the names of the players on the back of the jersey. However, the players whose

names are being used don’t even get to profit off of the sales of the jerseys. Another example is

NCAA made some games that has names of college football players and it uses their names to

sell the game. “The athletes cannot receive gifts, but coaches and other athletic department

personnel receive the free use of automobiles, country club memberships, housing subsidies, etc”

(Stanley, 1). Even though the schools are using the athletes likeness, they are the only one profiting

from the revenue that they bring in.

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Another reason why student athletes should be paid is that a lot of the athletes that are

recruited come from low income communities. A lot of these athletes work hard to get to the level of

talent that they have. On top of that, they are also working hard to keep up their grades to make sure

they have a better future for themselves. However, in some cases they can’t afford to keep on going

to school and are forced to drop out due to insufficient funds. “Many of these athletes come from

urban, low-class families and often leave school early because of the unimaginable pressure to be the

main provider for their family at a young age.” (Lemmons 4). If the college athletes are being paid

they can support their families at home by sending them some money and would be able to focus on

their academic studies.

Moreover, most of the scholarships that the athletes receive don’t cover most of the tution or

just cost of living in general. Lets face it, tuitions for most schools is ridiculously high and in most

cases a lot of students don’t have the income to pay for the extra costs. If they are being paid it will

also increase the percentage of students graduating from college with a degree. “Athletes should

receive a monthly stipend for living expenses, insurance coverage, and paid trips home during

holidays and for family emergencies” (Stanley 13). Coaches and other staff and benefitting from the

athletes and they can’t even get some of the money to go out and support their families or even go

visit them when they please.

On the contrary, many people are are against paying student athletes because they believe

that getting scholarships to a top university is enough for them. They also say that many of the

students wouldn’t continue going to class and that they wouldn’t handle their money correctly.

Another argument is that most athletes won’t be paid equally and others will be paid much more. “

They argue that if players were paid, a handful of exceptional athletes would receive large salaries

while most players would receive a pittance, and would probably no longer be offered valuable
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athletic scholarships” (Paying College Athletes, 1). There should be a slight difference based on the

talent and the hard work that they put in their respective sports. The better you play the more money

you should make.

In conclusion, college athletes should be paid a salary due to the fact that NCAA is making a

lot of money off of the talents of the athletes. They using the likeness to sell merchandise, recruiting

them from low income communities and most scholarships don’t cover the full cost of tuition. They

are hard working students and they deserve to enjoy the benefits of all the hard work that they put in.

Works Cited

Eitzen, D. Stanley. "College Athletes Should Be Paid." Sports and Athletes, edited by James D. Torr,

Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

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http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010233247/OVIC?u=mcc_glendale&sid=OVIC&xid=3d844

a7e. Accessed 29 Nov. 2018. Originally published as "Slaves of Big-Time College Sports," USA

Today Magazine, Sept. 2000, p. 26.

College Athletes Getting Paid? Here Are Some Pros And Cons
Malcolm Lemmons - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/college-athletes-getting-

paid-here-are-some-pros-cons_us_58cfcee0e4b07112b6472f9a

"Paying College Athletes: Should the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) pay college

athletes?" Issues & Controversies, Infobase Learning, 21 June

2010,http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=1775. Accessed 11 Dec. 2018.