A huge issue in the world of sports is the debate of whether or not NCAA College athletes should be paid. Those who support the idea of college athletes being paid point out the amount of money the NCAA is making because of the performance of the players. On the other side of the debate, people argue that paying college athletes will take away the passion of college athletics. Both of these sides have many other argument. In this paper I will explore these different opinions. .
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a "non-profit" association that governs student athletes of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. There are more than 450,000 college student-athletes who compete annually in college sports through the NCAA. There are three divisions of the NCAA divided mainly by competition levels. Division 1 is the highest while division III is the lowest. Typically Division I schools Have the largest student bodies and the largest athletic budgets. This is the division that makes the most money for its schools and for the NCAA. The most profitable sports in the NCAA are College football bowl series (FBS) and Division I college basketball. .
One of the main principles of the NCAA is that its student athletes are amateurs. This means that players may not be compensated monetarily in any way for their performance as athletes. Players must maintain this amateur status over there whole career as a student-athlete in order to remain eligible to compete in athletic events and practices. Student- athletes are also required to maintain a certain grade point average as a student in order to remain eligible. Student-athletes are also held to high standards of a clean lifestyle and are subject to random drug tests through-out the year. These drug tests not only test for performance enhancing drugs but for illegal drugs such as marijuana and stimulants such as Adderall and cocaine.