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Should College Athletes Be Paid? Essay

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Should College Athletes Be Paid to Play? The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governs all laws regarding college sports under the Division I, Division II, and Division III conferences. Its sole purpose is to protect student-athletes on and off the field, and regulate all games and scholarships affiliated with the students. Right now there are 1,121 colleges and universities under the NCAA (NCAA, n.d.), leaving a chunk of schools out—those who do not participate in Division I, II, or III conferences. Since an immense amount of colleges and universities are associated with the NCAA, this organization plays a significant role in regulating college sports. Within these regulations, there is a common issue that lingers around student-athletes and their coaches. This issue has to do with the role that a student-athlete holds, and if he or she should be paid for it. It is an ethical decision that poses problems regarding the education institutions and their members. The issue of pay or no pay goes beyond athletic or academic scholarships. The money would be used for additional pay completely separate from the costs the school covers for the athlete already. Just as professional athletes receive a paycheck for the efforts they put in, so would student-athletes. The NCAA has opposed this idea since it came into existence. All officials of the Association believe that college sports should, “preserve the status of amateur athletics” (Mondello & Beckham, 2002), and

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