In 2021, the NCAA generated a record $1.16 billion and none of this money is going toward the student-athletes who are the ones bringing it in. College athletes are expected to spend twenty hours (or four hours a day) on their sport alone.  There is too much money in the NCAA that is not going to the athletes who dedicate hours of their lives to what they love.

With this being said, many believe that college athletes get “paid” through scholarships.  Athletes receive on average thousands to tens of thousands of dollars in yearly stipends with scholarships (Drozdowski).  While other students do receive the opportunity to have a job in college, it is argued that the athlete’s job is their sport and what they are earning in scholarship money is their payment.  Mark Campione, a parent of a future college athlete said, “It is going to be a grind and might not always be fair, but I think that is all a part of it and it depends on whether or not that is what you want.  These kids are getting money to do what they love.”

Although some argue that athletes get paid through scholarships, only 1.3 percent of all athletes receive either a partial or full scholarship.  Of these scholarships, the average money given is five thousand dollars.  Anna Croyle, a soccer player committed to continuing her career at Syracuse University, said, “I feel like sometimes, especially with the bigger sports like football, they have tons of people who watch and none of the athletes are really making any money.”  If athletes were to get paid, some would be getting a scholarship as well as a paycheck, but most of these players would be deserving of this considering the big names and best players in college are the ones drawing the most attention.

The situation is getting closer to allowing athletes to benefit financially from what seems like should be their money but there is still some work to be done.  It is tough to solve this solution as it essentially comes down to what the NCAA has to say but continuing to advocate for the athletes and pushing the fact that college athletes should receive money is the most a lot of people can do.

https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.29.1.115

https://www.procon.org/headlines/paying-college-athletes-top-3-pros-and-cons/

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/dec/08/this-is-a-job-why-college-players-reject-the-insidious-term-student-athlete

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/6243-scholarship-athletes-do-not-deserve-extras