Student Athletes or just Athletes? 

The practicality of integrating sports into a college campus has been questioned for decades. This has included branching out questions of many kinds. Should student athletes be paid for their contributions to the university? Should there even be college athletics in the first place? Do college athletics draw away from the educational aspect of college? These questions and several others are going to be the center of the next five blog posts. Sports are at the heart of nearly every university. Perhaps if students are able to grasp the complexity of some of the issues surrounding college athletics, then this can lead to better and more well-rounded campuses across the nation.

In order to dive into the depths of this conversation, the most important part is understanding what a student athlete is and what the meaning behind a student athlete attempts to accomplish. The term student athlete implies exactly what it says. Athletes who have been chosen to play at a collegiate level are students first and athletes second. In other words, education should be the primary focus of each individual. However, this is simply not the case. The student athlete system has failed most collegiate athletes.

Image compliments of the Odyssey Online

A survey in 2011 conducted by the NCAA found that a large majority of athletes identified themselves as athletes first and students second. Most admitted to spending up to double the amount of time they have on their athletic training compared to their educational studies. This was found to be the case even in the off-season. In fact, during the off-season, athletes were sometimes less likely to perform well academically because all they needed was to be eligible during the season. This is simply not the mentality intended to be placed in so called “student athletes.”

Furthermore, athletes are picking their schools based on what team they want to play for, not what educational system fits them best. Often, athletes are recruited solely based on their athletic ability. At times they may not even meet the educational requirements for a particular university. In instances like this exceptions are made and athletes are given admittance.

Perhaps the worst part about the student athlete hoax is that most student athletes don’t even pick their own major. They are placed into a very low level major. One that would be difficult not to succeed in. So, universities and the NCAA may be throwing around numbers with high graduation rates for athletes, but how much is their degree really worth. The majors they are placed in and the amount of work placed in their academic careers does not set them up for success in a life outside of sports. Their degrees are intended to be a fall back or back-up plan to their professional careers. However, in today’s modern world the degrees they receive may not even be that.

Image compliments of the Daily Emerald

Additionally, a large percentage of student athletes don’t receive a degree. For basketball, only one year of college enrollment is required to proceed on to the professional level. Previously, no college was required at all. Stars like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant never attended college. They went immediately into a professional career. Comparatively, in football athletes must be at least three years removed from high school. This is a better system but still reveals the problem that at very young ages, of perhaps 19 or 20 years old, student athletes are making life altering decisions with absolutely no fall back plan even if it may be a meager one.

Overall, the student athlete system is seeming to fail in today’s society. Academics have often become obsolete for these various individuals. The media and other outside influences have pushed athletes to only focus on their athletic careers so that they can make the “big bucks” as soon as they can. Perhaps the solution lies in giving athletes monetary compensation for their efforts. Perhaps the solution lies in getting reducing the importance of collegiate sports all together. Whatever the case may be it is clear that the value of education needs to be instilled in college athletes. Otherwise, the majority of them will end up forgotten and jobless.