College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

The controversy surrounding the compensation of college athletes has garnished widespread attention across America. While very few institutional athletic programs are able to achieve a sustainable budget, the NCAA should not allow institutions to provide salaries for student athletes because it will impair the mission of higher education, and destroy the true meaning of college sport.

First and foremost, institutions cannot afford to pay student athletes. The majority of college athletic programs are very expensive, with only 14 programs managing to gross financial benefits, according to data submitted by the NCAA. For example, $22 million is required for the Ohio State University to “balance the budget.” Likewise, the total
amount needed to balance the budget from [Virginia] accumulates to “over $12 million” (Dosh, 577). As a result, many institutions are having to rely heavily on what the NCAA terms “allocated revenue.” Allocated revenue is generally acquired from “student fees and school or state subsidies,” which is then used to balance the budget deficits created by less profitable athletic departments (Berkowitz). With this in mind, the preposterous idea to start paying salaries to college athletes is improbable. Although it is true that “Big-time college sports are fully commercialized” (Boola Boola, 574), athletic programs are more of a burden than a savior. If schools started paying athletes surplus, the money would likely be derived from increases in student fees and cutback to lower profile teams. In other words, more money will be taken from already struggling students, while teams such as volleyball will be forced to make cutbacks in order to support higher revenue generating sports like men's football and basketball. With this potential of causing more conflicts, institutions should not pay student athletes salaries. Secondly, student athletes receiving college education are “already essentially paid to play” (Sack, 584).
In the same way, superior academic and athletic performing students are equally remunerated through earned scholarships. The scholarships provide the coverage of partial or full tuition, room, board, and other expenses. However, funding private benefits directly to college athletes will undermine the core value of education. For example, how will deserving students feel when they find out student athletes are receiving exclusive benefits? More than likely, an imbalance of equality will be prevalent on many college campuses. To avoid inequality amongst students, institutions should not pay salaries to student athletes unless they are willing to pay all students equally. Benjamin Carson, a profound and well-known neurosurgeon, emphasized the importance of education above all else (including sports). “What will maintain our position in this world? The ability to shoot a 25 foot jump shot, or the ability to solve a quadratic equation” (Carson). Institutions are obligated to reinforce the value of education; however, if extra money is placed in the pockets of college athletes, a potential trickle-down effect may alter the young minds of high school athletes. For instance, upon graduating, a high school quarterback attending a poverty-stricken school is offered a lucrative salary in addition to an advanced education from the Ohio State University. Shortly after, he
miserly accepts. The moral of the story is that “Athlete’s decision to attend a particular university would soon be more about the dollar signs than about the education or opportunities they would be afforded” (Garcia). The potential ramifications in paying college athletes will cause more harm than good towards the mission of higher education. In all actuality, the real purpose for college sport was never about money.
In 1905, the NCAA was founded as a governing committee to ensure that “amateurism” was the pravailing status of collegiate sports. For over century, college sport has been defined as “someone who competes in sports for personal satisfaction and not for monetary gain” (Peterson's staff). For kids growing up, the chance to participate in college sport should be a dream, not a cheap monetary benefit. Moreover, high school and college athletes have always played for the passion, pride, and love of the game. College sport should not turned into an occupation, but be kept an honorable experience. Consequently, the devastating effects of paying college athletes would commence the ruination of the very fundamentals of college sport. The question now is how can the NCAA better improve benefits for student athletes, while retaining the amateur status of college sport. Rather then paying college athletes undeserving money, a stipend can be provided to athletes strictly for things such as food expenses, traveling expenses for students to travel home for visitation, as well as family members to attend games. If this were the case, both NCAA and student athletes would benefit and be in congruence without disrupting the peace on campus. But, if college athletes were paid with cash in their pockets, the amateurism of collegiate sports would be quickly diminished. Athletes would rather see themselves as
employees at work and not students enjoying a simple game of sport. Ultimately, paying college athletes will ruin the true meaning of college sport. In this heightened time of confusion, many people are joining the presumptuous bandwagon that college athletes deserve more than what they are already receiving. The misconception that college athletes need extra compensation does not come without detrimental drawbacks and consequences. Some institutional athletic programs achieve financial success, however, many athletic programs are less fortunate in procuring revenue. Therefore much of the profits earned off college sports are put back into the institution. More importantly, college athletes are already obtaining lofty athletic scholarships which includes paid education. Moreover, the purpose for college sport was never supposed to be about a college athletes’ ability to make millions, but rather the learned experiences and disciplines gained along the way. It is crucial that the NCAA makes the right decisions on not paying college athletes with more than what they truly deserve.