Should College Athletes Be Paid?

College athletes generate millions of dollars for their schools each year, yet they are not allowed to be compensated beyond a scholarship due to being considered amateurs. College athletes are some of the hardest working people in the nation, having to focus on both school courses and sports. Because athletics take so much time, these student-athletes are always busy. College football and basketball are multi-billion dollar businesses. The NCAA does not want to pay the athletes beyond scholarships, and it would be tough to work a new compensation program into their budget and the budgets of the universities. College athletes should be compensated in some form because they put in so much time and effort, and they generate huge amounts of revenue.
Playing a sport in college is equivalent to working a full-time job. There are rules that allow major-college football coaches to only demand 20 hours of the players time each week. Studies show that those athletes are doubling those hours per week during the season. Other sports say they are putting in the equivalent of a full time work week. Some NCAA officials are concerned with the amount of time spent and that beyond 40 hours is inhumane. Most of the athletes compete and do whatever it takes to succeed, so they enjoy spending so much time on sports. Many athletes even have struggles in the classroom because they do not have enough time to study. Student-athletes at top Division I schools think of themselves as athletes more than students. Less than one percent of college athletes actually make it professionally. That means these kids should focus more on their education than on athletics. In reality, these officials tolerate the time spent on sports because it keeps a lot of studen...

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...e that are not stars would benefit because they would not be bogged down with so many restrictions. Letting these athletes market themselves would not hurt the NCAA or universities financially, and would even help bring more attention to their athletics. The only fair compromise is to let these athletes make money by branding themselves.
It is undeniable that college athletes are exploited by universities and the NCAA to make money, therefore, they should not have restrictions to prevent them from making any money. These student-athletes work too hard, generate too much money, and sacrifice too much overall to not receive anything more than a scholarship. What is happening in college athletics is unjust and unreasonable. The universities do not need to create new budgets to pay athletes, but the athletes should be able to market themselves to earn what they deserve.