Should College Athletes Be Paid In College Essay

Each year the National Collegiate Athletic Association, also known as the NCAA, assists more than 460,000 scholar-athletes with the ability to succeed in class, sports, and life (“Where”). College students perform many money saving and money generating functions at their universities from teaching aides to student services volunteers to student athletes; most of these students pay tuition, while some of them not only have their tuition paid for them, but would also like to be paid. Whether or not student athletes should be paid to play college sports has become a controversial issue in America. College sports are beloved by the American public who believe the college athlete should receive a college education. While some people say college athletes should be paid like college employees, other people believe they are already compensated enough. Students are on the field or on the court to get the practice, experience, and exposure, though very few go on to play professionally. Student athletes should not receive a paycheck for the demands of playing sports, as they are still amateurs in the learning phase; this issue concerns the players, parents, fans and the NCAA. One issue on the line with college players and the NCAA is players believe they should get paid to play while attending college. The NCAA has rules regarding the status of players on the field and on the court; they must first be certified as amateurs to play sports while attending school and also compete in intercollegiate competitions. Amateurism, according to NCAA, has students put academics before sports; they say “quality education is the first priority” (“Amateurism”). Students must also maintain amateur status while participating in college sports, which will not allow “contracts with professional teams, salary for participating in athletics, prize money above actual and necessary expenses, playing with professionals, and delayed initial full-time collegiate enrollment to participate in organized sports competitions” (“Amateurism”). If these terms are not followed, then the student athlete is no longer eligible to play; a student receiving a paycheck would go directly against the rules of amateurism. Many people question the motivation of the universities who make up the NCAA. They wonder, at the center of the resistance to pay their athletes, if it is the student athletes’ academic achievement or having to potentially share in the lucrative profits generated by college athletes. Some people see amateur status as a smoke screen the universities created for themselves to hide behind. However, college administrators do seem to have the best interest of all their students in mind as they resist paying their athletes. Universities that hold membership in the NCAA distribute sports related profits in ways that benefit the entire student …show more content…
An internship is hands on training in the field which the student is studying to get experience that could not come from class time, and in most cases, college interns are not paid. The students will work the same hours as the professionals in that field, and in some situations 12 hour shifts or more. Students will not have any compensation for the work they will do, that is, students are not professionals they are there to learn (Tepper). The Maricopa Community Colleges have a nursing program that has an internship that is not paid; I will be attending this nursing program, and will not be compensated for the work I will be doing as an intern in the hospital, or nursing home. I will be on my feet to learn what it takes to be a nurse, not expecting a paycheck. Internships offer students so much experience that employers are looking for, and not all learning can come from books. Interns, in a way are like amateurs, pro sports are looking for the best players, like employers are looking for the best interns. No intern or amateur should receive a paycheck for learning the career they chose to be in; it would be discriminating to other students. If nursing interns, like many other interns, do not get a paycheck for all the hard and caring work they do, student athletes should not get a paycheck to play a sport they enjoy playing. Although some would suggest the demands would make them like employees. Many college athletes already receive some sort of scholarship to help pay for their education that many interns do not have that same