College athletics have been and will continue to be very controversial. Whether or not college athletes should get paid may be the most controversial issue of them all.

Many people believe that student athletes should get paid to play sports in college, but if they were paid it would not change them for the better.

Colleges would be forced to pay every single athlete at their school provoking a long list of additional questions and issues. It would also change both the integrity of the athletes and the sports themselves.

Ultimately, college athletes should not be paid to play sports.

Many colleges in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are making millions of dollars from athletics. For example, in 2016-2017, the University of Texas made $214,830,647 in revenue.

Most division one schools are making millions of dollars off of student-athletes.

For these schools, it is easy to pay their athletes, because if you pay one athlete, you have to pay all of your athletes and these schools have plenty of revenue to pay all of their athletes.

For many other schools who are not making 200 million dollars, how can they afford to pay every single one of their athletes? It is simple… they can not.

As mentioned before, colleges would have to pay all student-athletes no matter what sport they play or how good they are at this sport. So how do you determine how much each player receives? Should some players receive more than others?

It would not be fair if some players are making more than others and someone would have to determine how much each player is getting paid.

Consequently, college athletics would not be about the sport itself, but rather it would be about the money. College sports leagues would start to look like major league sports as a result of this change.

College athletes would be less worried about their education and the sports themselves, and would be more worried about money resulting in questions like how can I make more or why is he/she making more than me? Students should not be worried about money because college is about the experience and having fun.

Another problem with paying college athletes is that they have never been in charge of a substantial income.

Most 20-year-old college students are not going to take the money they receive and put it in a bank account to save for their future. Instead, they are going to go out and spend their money.

Many people might say that athletes could send money back to their families, but not all players may decide to do this and if they make enough money, they could easily send a small portion home and spend the rest. College athletes are not mature enough to handle large amounts of money responsibly.

The integrity of college sports would be lost if college athletes were paid. Athletics would not be about the game, the experience, the fans, or having fun. Isn’t that what sports are all about?

That should not be taken away from some of the most popular teams and sports in the United States.

Athletes will have plenty of opportunities to make money later in life, whether that is playing for a major league sports team or working in a non-sports-related career. College is about preparing students for the world. College athletes should not be paid as they first need to learn how to play with integrity.