Fairness of Athletic Scholarships in College and University

Around the world sports are perceived by an array of people to be to a one-way ticket out of poverty and also a chance to further their education after high school. On the other hand, a lot of students take advantage of the scholarships and develop a mindset that they don’t have to put in a great amount of effort as long as they play the sport well and meet minimum GPA and graduation requirements. Opposing viewpoints would say that athletic scholarships don’t motivate students to reach their full potential. With so many controversial opinions on this topic it generates a question. Should universities offer athletic scholarships? The answer to this question generally depends on multiple circumstances. To answer briefly, No. while athletic scholarships offer various opportunities for students who want to pursue careers in the sports industry, it doesn’t initially benefit students who aren’t as skilled in sports. In other words, universities should not generously offer athletic scholarships to students based on their skill rather than intelligence because it’s unfair to students who have worked hard academically.

Over the course of many years, universities have believed providing athletic scholarships benefited adolescents by giving them a predominantly free education and overall the entire school in terms of popularity. What school boards have failed to realize is that the results of these scholarships are somewhat contradicting. Sometimes colleges lose more money than they gain from releasing the scholarships and the ineffective performance of some athletes. According to an analysis made on the percentage and amount of money going towards athletic scholarship funding, rates have increased steadily by 4.5% and by 2008, has reached a funding of $1.1 billion (Mark, 2011). By giving out generous amounts of money with limited profit in return, colleges are leading themselves into bankruptcy. The amount of money invested into paying for athletes to attend college could have gone towards helping other students who have earned their way to college academically pay for their tuition.

These success-oriented students mainly have one goal from the start. To play a sport and get into college. From a young age, some of the now athletes have perceived themselves to have some sort of disadvantage when it came down to learning. Even though sometimes this might truly be the case, most of the time it’s far from it. Athletes derived from families with strong confidence and belief in the success of playing a sport can portray this image onto them. With a lot of persuasion, peer pressure, and lack of their own personal judgements, some of the students began to believe that playing a sport was their only option. Their intuition was focused on acquiring the skills necessary to do their best and be their best and make it almost certain that they’ll get an athletic scholarship.

Speaking on some of the opposing viewpoints, a lot of parents don’t realize that even though the scholarship looks good, they often lead a good number of athletes into poverty. It seems to be a way out, but in a few cases it’s not. When analyzing how much money it would cost to attend a college and then looking at the worth of the scholarship, in instances it makes more sense to get financial aid (if the student is eligible) instead. An insider is that the scholarship doesn’t always cover all the fees, which leads to students having to get student loans and most are in debt afterwards-this is how athletes began to become financially unstable. Poverty is more common than society wants to believe. When thinking of athletes, it’s not uncommon to believe majority come from upper-class families or middle-class families but it’s quite on the contrary. According to a report by the National College Players Association, 86% of athletes were living under the poverty limit (Huma Ramogi, 2009-2010). With this being stated, the living situations inherited by students also has a crucial role in their decision-making process on whether or not playing a sport is the way to go. While the way athletic scholarships are disbursed compared to academic students who are struggling to pay for tuition is unfair, the athletic scholarships are vital in some students lives to succeed.

In order to stop the number of students aiming to get an athletic scholarship instead of trying harder in school and reaching their highest potential, schools should increase their expectations and make athletic scholarships harder to attain. Instead of the minimum GPA being a 2.0, it should be raised so students who really want to graduate will try harder. Graduation requirements should be evaluated, and some courses could be a little more challenging to enhance students thinking. Most of all universities should not give out athletic scholarships so generously because it defeats the purpose and influences students to take advantage of them. Students won’t work as effectively and don’t put in as much effort. A few universities are lenient when it comes down to the expectations they want to see, and the work being performed. Athletic scholarships should only be given to those individuals in great need of one and are deserving of it. The effort being put in to get the scholarship must be consistent even after getting it.

In conclusion, the requirements for college scholarships should be the same regardless of whether or not a sport is played. Schools should portray learning as a more effective way to succeed and make getting into college by the use of sports the last option. If standards rise, students will be forced to work hard to get what they want. Universities need to come together to find an alternative solution to fix this issue that will not only eliminate the unfairness against other students who are struggling to pay for tuition but also in order to handle their financial grounds and stop losing more money than they are taking in. The athletic scholarships as a whole is not the problem. But, the way they are being disbursed and the reasons behind giving them out so easy is unethical.