Essay Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

College athletics bring in 11 billion dollars every year, but none of it goes to the players. The top college sports coaches can earn millions of dollars per year, and the players get nothing. College athletes should be paid to play. A lot of college athletes are poor, or come from poor families, so getting paid to play their sport could help them out a lot (listland.com, 2015). College athletes deserve to be paid because they spend a lot of time practicing and playing their sport. In addition, they have to go to classes and do homework. Paying college athletes could also be beneficial because it would encourage athletes to stay in school longer and they would have a jump start on learning how to manage their money. A lot of college athletes don't have much money, even if they get scholarships. If they were paid to play sports, they would be able to live a little …show more content…
When athletes go pro, they usually don't know how to handle the large amount of money they earn. According to Tiffany Patterson, 60% of NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. "Many of these players blamed poor investments, trusting unethical financial advisors and lavish spending habits as the reason for their money troubles"(Patterson, 2016). This is a surprising statistic, and that number could be reduced if the athletes were taught how to manage their money at a young age. When professional athletes first experience wealth, they usually don't know how to handle their money. If they had experience from college, they would know how to use their money responsibly. Paying college athletes would also make them more likely to stay in school longer (Peebles, 2015). A lot of college players go professional as soon as they can because they want the money and fame. However, staying in college longer would make them more educated and it would give them more time to get better at their