College Student Athlete

$9,139 is the average cost of college for a student to go attend an in-state four year public university (“College Costs”). This amount does not include housing, food, books, or supplies; this can end up totaling near $10,000, but imagine if both of these figures were paid for you. This would mean you would pay nothing to attend a four year college, and this is the reality for many individuals today; these people are commonly known as student-athletes. Many student-athletes receive full scholarships to schools covering their room, board, tuition, books and any other expenses they may incur because they are playing a sport at the institution. Not to mention many of these individuals will receive stipends to use at their own will. However, these same students feel like these benefits are not enough (“Here’s”). Some students feel like they are being cheated out of their talents because NCAA uses them in media and in other profitable ventures but they are not paid. Others just feel that the role of a college athlete should include receiving payment since they are like professional athletes and see their sport as their only profession. Student- athletes may have a similar role to professional athletes, but do not deserve the same compensation because they are receiving their payment through a school scholarship.

Student athletes need to maintain a good gpa to do good after graduation. Getting better grades will help you get into a better college. Getting better grades will help you get into a higher quality college, and also help you do better in college. Getting into a better college helps you become

It is true that their tuition, books, and housing is cover in there scholarships. Such of a scholarship may seem like a lot of money, but it only covers the basics such as thousands of dollars in mysterious university fees, tuition, housing, a meal-plan and expensive textbooks. If an athlete comes from a low income family or household, they only get a few hundred dollars for other miscellaneous scholarships such as a Pell grant. Pell Grants allow athletes to buy chicken soup instead of chicken-flavored ramen noodles. Hall of fame legend Abdul-Jabbar stated “Despite the hours I put in every day, practicing, learning plays, and traveling around the country to play games, and despite the millions of dollars our team generated for UCLA—both in cash and in recruiting students to attend the university—I was always too broke to do much but study, practice, and play,” It is sad that athletes are not able to enjoy themselves in school, it’s hard to go out and have a great time without

On the other side, the National College Players Association will argue that while many football players receive an athletic scholarship; these scholarships are not a full or free ride and leave many athletes living below the poverty line. Based on Drexel University Department of Sports Management Study: “College athletes on full scholarship do not receive a ‘free ride’. In 2011-2012, the average annual scholarship shortfall (out of pocket expenses) for each Football Bowl Series (FBS) ‘full scholarship’ athlete was $3,285. The percentage of FBS schools whose ‘full’ athletic scholarships leave their players in poverty is 82% for those athletes who live on campus; 90% for athletes who live off campus” (Huma and Staurowsky). Expenses that are allowed for academic scholarships but are prohibited from inclusion in athletic scholarships include

The NCAA believes “that a student-athlete is a student first and athlete second.” Student-athletes benefit more than from playing a sport that they love. The graduation rate is higher among the student athletes than the general student body. “NCAA studies show that student-athletes enjoy high levels of engagement in academics, athletics and community: have positive feeling about their overall athletics and academic experiences: attribute invaluable life skills to being a student-athlete: and are more likely to earn similar or higher wages after college than non-student athletes.”

A student playing a college sport receives scholarships and grants but those assistances are not enough, for a student to pay for their education. According to Hartnet “A full Division 1 scholarship is about $25,000 per year” (1). A state university on “average cost about $23,000 dollars to attend for one year” (collegedata.com), most of the time this cost doesn’t include books or any hidden extra fees that a college or university might have. Also most college athletes only last one to two years with an athletic scholarship, because they usually transfer to a different institution when they can no longer receive the scholarship (Hartnet 1). An average athletic scholarship will not cover the cost of a

Many will argue that college athletes do not need to be compensated because they are student-athletes; and the key word for them is student. One argument against paying college athletes is that they are basically receiving a free education from a top school. A four-year scholarship will cover everything a student-athlete needs. This includes: tuition, room and board, books, medical coverage and meals. For example, Duke University costs $57,180 to attend (Bleacher Report, 2013). Those on an athletic scholarship at Duke are receiving a high quality education and are

Yes, these college athletes get full scholarships sometimes but not all do, so some athletes will still pay tuition and be in debt. And for the people with full rides, an average scholarship per year is about $25,000. This $25,000 only cover the basics such as classes and textbooks. Athletes often do not have enough money to buy other basics and most of the time will have to use their own money to buy other sports equipment. Most of athletes’ education is not very good in college. It is so bad that people make jokes about it now such as “Two football players were walking in the woods. One of them said, “Look, a dead bird.”

The other looked up in the sky and said, “Where?” from New Jersey 101.5. They spend most of their time in their sport such as practice or going to competitions sometimes all the way across the country. All my reasons prove

They even get full scholarships, and many other benefits because that is their reward for the perseverance and excellence they have shown in their sport. Why would anyone willingly pay for your time at college, the price is always going up, and then for you to pay for that person to play for you? “ A full football or basketball scholarship to a school such as Northwestern is worth as much as $250,000 over four years. The colleges also provide the players with expert coaching and medical care, as well as the opportunity to get an education” (Bowen). The bonus for you getting a scholarship to a good school is you can and should focus on school as well. Scholarships granted to student athletes cover tuition, fees, room, board and textbooks, according to the National College Athletic Association

David Frank, who writes for an informational site that explains scholarships, wrote an interesting article titled, “Facts About Full-Ride Scholarships.” Within this article, Frank describes exactly what people should know when it comes to the benefits student athletes are already receiving when schools grant them scholarships. Frank states, “Full-ride scholarships essentially enable recipients to attend college at little cost. Tuition, room and board, books, and certain fees related are covered” (Frank). To build upon the ideas of Frank, Tamar Lewin provided the opposite end of the spectrum that should be taken into account as well. In her article, “College Graduates’ Debt Burden Grew, Yet Again, in 2010,” she discusses the problems with debt that college graduates are being forced to deal with when they enter the real world. Lewin explains, “Students who graduated from college in 2010 with student loans owed an average of $25,250, up 5 percent from the previous year” (Lewin 1). Therefore, both sources open the conversation that these college athletes that graduate college will not face near the amount of debt that regular students will. Just because another student can shoot a basketball better, or catch a football, or run fast, does not mean they should be allowed to receive extra benefits. College athletes at

There are those who are against paying college athletes, they believe that the full scholarship the student-athletes are receiving is all that is needed. The athletes are at school for an education not for sports. According to Johnson and Acquaviva a full scholarship for all four years costs between $30,000 and $200,000 depending on the school(par. 12). Zach Dirlum simplifies it by saying graduating from college with a degree guarantees the athlete making more money out of school(par. 11).As Kerry Brown says in “10 Benefits of Being a Collegiate Student Athlete” a 2013 study by The College Board shows that if the student athletes graduate from college they have a 65% higher

College athletes are awarded a scholarship to pay for school but it doesn 't equal the cash amount the athletes would receive. For example a high school basketball star, Emmanuel Mudiay decided to skip college altogether to go overseas to play for one year. Gary Parrish from CBS sports said “Class of 2014 star Emmanuel Mudiay has reached an agreement in principle with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the China Basketball Association on a one-year deal that will pay him a total of $1.2 million… a week after Mudiay announced he 's skipping college in favor of a contract overseas that would help alleviate some of his mother 's financial concerns. Clearly, this deal makes that possible”(Parrish). This isn 't the first case an athlete decides to go overseas for a year to earn money rather than go to college for a year and earn nothing. Maurice Peebles stated that “think about what the scholarship is… it’s the school paying itself. It’s like me paying myself for rent for my kids in my house, and then claiming I don’t have any money left because I paid myself rent for them”(Peebles). Maurice Peebles is exactly right, because in actuality a school granting an athlete a scholarship is just them giving someone money and them giving it right back to them. This notion that a scholarship properly compensates for an athletes pay is

College athletes don’t have to worry about paying for books, meals, or the sport equipment they use to work out with. They don’t need money to throw away on food because they possibly have a certain meal plan provided by their athletic trainers. College athletes still have time to get a job during the off-season. Many people have to pay for college and student athletes with scholarships are the lucky ones who

Many of the student-athletes that go on to attend a university live at or below the poverty level growing up. Some people may think that this is less of an issue once the athlete is in college, as they receive tuition and housing free. This is obviously not the case, however, as those student-athletes sometimes struggle to get food to eat, and have to take out loans to cover their expenses. As Bradley Roby said, “You can still have a scholarship and not have food. Not everybody comes from a decent background” (Briggs). Students’ going into debt in college is also a legitimate concern. As another source said, “The average full-scholarship athlete accumulates $3,200 in debt for each year they 're in school, according to a recent study, because meal plans and other incidentals often aren 't fully covered” (Majorel). Athletes’ not having enough food to eat was an issue in the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. University of Connecticut star Shabazz Napier

Student athletes have an opportunity to excel in education while still being productive in sports. Taking education seriously and understanding the consequences of lacking education should constantly be communicated to student athletes. The students have commitments that deny them the chance to take part in education actively, but this is normally used to excuse the students for failing to take education seriously. Colleges should realize that student athletes are first students then athletes second. If the students were not in college, they would not take part in sports activities involving the college. This is why the college should instill discipline in the athletes from the time they join the college. College administrators should monitor the performance of student athletes and deny those who fail the chance to play. Many athletes excelled in education and on the field. Joe Thomas is a good example, a football play he currently plays for Cleveland Browns (Doherty). Thomas excelled academically, and he was an honorable student for four years. Thomas was awarded a postgraduate scholarship worth $18,000. This does demonstrate that a student can excel in education and on the field.