The topic of whether college athletes should be paid or not greatly interests me as a student at University of South Carolina and as a devoted NCAA sports fan. The issue here is an increasingly more controversial topic and I believe the student athletes should not be paid any money for playing sports at the college level. As a student, I feel as if college athletes are already being paid with reduced or free tuition, along with free meal plans, housing and more. If universities started to pay these athletes, it would take much more money from the school itself which would affect myself as a student along with thousands of others and also staff members of the university, including teachers. It is utterly unnecessary to pay college athletes with the universities money. If they feel that they truly deserve to be paid, they should focus on making it legal to accept endorsements and be paid for auto graphs. College athletes should not be paid in America because for the athletes, education is money, universities would lose money and athletes won't recognize their opportunity.  It is unfair to pay other students of the university for playing sports with the money that other students and I pay in order to attend school. This qualifies me to write about the subject because student athletes being paid directly affects me so I deserve to have a voice regarding the issue.

There are many reasons on why athletes should and shouldn't be paid. An article on thesportsjournal.org called "Point/Counterpoint: Paying college athletes covers many reasons of why and why not to pay college athletes and supports them with actual facts and also opinions of both of the authors. The article explains the cost and consequences of what would happen on both sides of the topic. Either way, it is more sensible to not give money to college athletes to compensate for their education. Long term effects of many athletes is that they focus more on sports rather than education, which can lead to never acquiring a degree which is very common. Studies show that on average, people with college degrees earn about one million dollars more in their lifetime than non-graduates (Johnson 1). People still believe that paying student athletes can compensate for such a loss which leads to even more issues regarding how much athletes would be paid, would they be paid evenly, and would all players including backups obtain a salary.  Major values at stake in the article are the universities that could pay athletes and the athletes themselves. Education comes with many more benefits than a sports salary. The only problem is universities deciding whether education is priceless and if student athletes should be reimbursed. Many students and teachers at universities take interest in this topic because it directly affects them. Also, many college sports fans are interested because they believe that if athletes are paid, it will strip college sports of the pureness of playing to win and instead playing for money. This article is credible because both authors have degrees and the information comes from thesportjournal.org which is a nonprofit organization. The author Dennis Johnson has a Doctorate of Education and the other author John Acquaviva has a Ph. D.

Universities paying student athletes could actually make the universities lose money. An online article written on the CBS sports website there is information based on a survey conducted in 2014 and is called "NCAA expert: 69 percent of public opposes paying college players". The articles main points are that in surveys they proved that fans are less likely to watch college sports if the athletes are paid and claim that more of the public would rather see athletes remain unpaid. Major values at stake in this article are the universities and college sports fans. They found in surveys that the more players are paid, the more people will discontinue watching college sports, resulting in a huge loss of market to universities (Soloman 1). Universities will also suffer because only "23 of 228 athletics departments at NCAA Division I public schools generated enough money on their own to cover their expenses in 2012" (Murphy 1). If only 23 universities broke even with the expenses of college sport, how can they afford to pay players and not be losing money? The universities would have to again, take money that should be used to improve the school and its education programs, stealing from the students and employees at the school. The author of this article is Jon Soloman, CBS Sport's national college football writer. He is credible because he has plenty of experience in the world of college sports. This article is also unbiased because he is using valid research information in his article and explains it rather than stating his opinions about the subject.

College athletes need to be aware of the opportunities that they come across when they receive scholarships and free education and how many people can't afford the cost of a college education. In an article called "Privilege, not job: College athletes should not be paid" written by Kate Murphy of CNN explains the difference between employees and athletes, and why they shouldn't be paid. The article explains how the athletes are called student-athletes for a reason because they attend higher level education usually for less than a dime, which is already paying them enough (Murphy 1). The article also explains that athletes should recognize playing sports at a school as a privilege because many people don't get the opportunity. Athletes are not employed by the university. Playing a sport is their own choice and unless they move on to play in the professional league as a career, a sport in college is not a profession, but more of a hobby. The people at stake in this article are the student athletes. They hold stakes in their education and money, whether they truly deserve to get paid for all their hard work or that they should accept what they already have and play for the love of the game. The author of this article Kate Murphy wrote this article for Elon's student news organization and has some credibility as a writer but not much because of her absent background on college sports. This article also has some bias because it is very opinionated about why college athletes should not be paid.

My research question is very arguable because there are many different solutions and answers that can be given in response. There is also plenty of information that can support any responses or opposing views to my research question. Many people agree and say that college athletes should not be paid because universities already give them enough money in scholarships. Many common disagreements I have seen through my research is that they should be paid because most college athletes are misled and misguided into thinking they will leave college well educated and with a degree. Many people think money should compensate for loss of a full education, even though many players already go to school for free. I think that I will keep searching for more sources and facts to support my claim when I revise my research.

