How to Write a Persuasive Essay on "Should College Athletes Be Paid"

In the past few decades, there has been an intense debate on whether college athletes should be paid. It's a complex issue with arguments on both sides, making it a challenging topic for students to tackle when writing an essay about it.

However, understanding the key points and crafting a well-structured argument can help students write a compelling essay on this controversial topic.

This article will explore why students are often assigned this essay. We will also examine the key issues surrounding college athlete compensation and provide a guide for writing a persuasive essay on this topic.

Why Are Students Asked to Write “Should College Athletes Be Paid” Essay?

Every year, financial reports from college sports programs reveal that the games generate billions of dollars. So, should the athletes participating in it be paid, considering this is a multi-billion dollar industry? That is the question your lecturer, professor, or tutor poses to you.

As we write this, part of our college essay writing services team feels that hard work should always be recognized and rewarded. That applies to paying student-athletes in general. Others argue they already have enough benefits, so paying college athletes is another unnecessary consideration.

Before you take a stand and write a persuasive essay, here is why your teacher asks you to write about a disputable college sports topic.

The NCAA Factor

The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is a nonprofit organization that governs collegiate sports in the US. About 1098 schools are registered under the organization. Student-athletes in these schools must abide by the NCAA rules for their sports progress and academic performance.

Every recognized sport in these schools has its rules, which also change occasionally, as we will reveal in the next section. According to this organization, they are dedicated to nurturing the overall well-being of every college athlete. That is why student-athletes have to follow the strict guidelines that dictate how they are supposed to function while pursuing college sports and academics.

As it stands now, paying college athletes is not part of their rules and obligations. However, some incentives support the student's attendance at college and participation in their sports. Scholarships are one of them, and they ensure that student-athletes get free tuition and cover other school expenses.

Until August 1, 2024, the benefits were limited, and there was little compensation. Before that date, students could not be compensated for their hard work (juggling work and school). If an endorsement or product promotion deal came by, there would be no direct compensation for the student. That, however, would depend on the state before the NCAA made the amendment official.

Any student whose school is registered with the NCAA who breaks any of their rules faces serious consequences. The punishment is either suspension from participating in college sports or ban from the athletic programs altogether.

Paying College Athletes Is Still an Issue

Should college athletes be paid? This controversial topic has become hotter in the past few years, thanks to California Governor Gavin Newsom. People have been talking about it for decades on social media and in Sports shows on TV and radio.

However, the fire re-ignition came with Governor Newsom in 2019 after he signed a law that permitted college athletes to earn money through endorsement deals. For example, if your favorite college football player endorses a Nike shoe, he should get the funds Nike pays for the advertisement.

We expect that the student-athletes in California will welcome the law since it gives them a chance to earn the greenback. On the other hand, the governor had to deal with heavy backlash from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Why? The law was breaking the organization's financial compensation rules for college athletes in the member schools.

On the other hand, the governor argued that it's unfair for the NCAA to earn from college athletes, yet they are not adequately compensated for their hard work. Yes, there is financial support in terms of tuition fees and other amenities related to their education. However, according to Newsom, signing the law meant that there was still room for improvement in providing financial compensation.

The NCAA earned about $1.06 billion in 2017 alone. Yet, the same organization cannot pay college athletes directly.

NCAA Amends the Financial Compensation Rules

With the new law in a West Coast state, college athletes could hire agencies or join one, get a sponsorship or endorsement deal, and earn money from that directly. The NCAA's pushback changed to amendments after more states introduced such a law.

In August 2024, the NCAA updated the amended laws to allow the following for Division I, II, and III schools participating in Division I sports:

• Schools will offer student-athletes degree completion funds up to 10 years after their eligibility ends.
• A school cannot cancel the given student athlete aid for athletic reasons
• Student-athletes can now earn through name, image, and likeness opportunities (the endorsement deals).
• College athletes in all divisions should be able to access post-eligibility insurance to cover injuries. The cover should extend beyond their university/college experience.

That is a glimpse of the laws that the NCAA amended. The others deal with life skills training and funding Women's basketball in the 2025-2026 period based on their performance in the 2024-2025 period. You can view the amended rules on their website.

Still, as the NCAA bends to the will of the majority, the ongoing debate about college athletes being paid directly is ongoing. So, before you write the persuasive essay or ask for essay writing help, here are the arguments you can use as your basis.

Those Supporting College Athletes Be Paid

If you want to write a persuasive essay supporting the idea that student-athletes should be paid, you can consider the following points as your basis:

Financial Benefits Colleges and Universities Enjoy from College Sports Programs

Colleges and universities generate a lot of money from the college games. The funds come in the form of ticket sales, television contracts, merchandise, and donors, where applicable. They could not earn millions from these games were it not for the hard work that the college athletes dedicate to them.

The college coaches also earn big bucks by training the players. Let's look at coach Sean Edward Miller, for example. He has successfully coached men's basketball in colleges and universities since 1992. Currently, he is coaching the Xavier Musketeers, who represent Xavier University in Tuscon, Arizona.

In 2024, Miller earns about $5 million annually, and his net worth is around $10 million. It is unfair that a coach earns that much while training student-athletes with nothing in their pockets.

The Time Sacrifice That College Athletes Make

In addition to spending countless hours perfecting their craft, student-athletes have to switch between the field and school work. Sometimes, one vital aspect must be forgone in favor of the other. Their academic performance mostly suffers despite getting a good education via scholarships.

You can check on the schedule these players are subjected to in your school for better insight. Take note of the training sessions and the pressure they face to be the best. It would be best if you also observed what they must sacrifice in their personal lives in the game's name.

Once you note such issues, it will be easy to judge and express how these student-athletes cannot enjoy a full college experience compared to non-athlete students. That will also help you push on the main agenda, which is paying college athletes directly.

Exploitation Concerns and Their Effects

Now that the NCAA has allowed student-athletes to earn from endorsement deals, their agents may manipulate their contracts to limit their earnings. Contracts may be changed to control how these athletes use their image, name, and likeness.

Public Support for College Athletes to Be Paid

A survey conducted by Harris Poll in November 2020 and August 2023 shows that more people support the idea that college athletes should be paid. According to the poll, those supporting the concept increased from 22% to 31% between November 2020 and August 2023.

Those who somewhat agree are also rising, from 40% to 43%. Some supporters argue that student-athletes should get employee status and form a labor union. People have observed how colleges grow from investing in sports in general. In addition to their financial benefits, playing sports attract other students and interested donors.

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Those Opposing College Athletes to Be Paid

Still, on the Harris Poll that depends on samples collected from 2,018 participants, 17% strongly disagree, while about 21% somewhat agree. If you are in this bracket, you can oppose the motion here and state why college athletes should not be paid.

Before you write it, here are some of the ideas that will help you brainstorm:

The Funded College Education and Scholarships

Those who say that student-athletes should not be paid utilize the free tuition incentive as one of the major opposing arguments. As highlighted in the previous section, this argument now has more weight, thanks to the amendments made by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in August 2024.

There is more financial support now that goes beyond college life. No authority can cancel athletic scholarships for athletic reasons, and they accompany student-athletes even when they transfer schools. The financial support may extend to women's basketball teams in Division I if their performance satisfies the organization enough to trigger funding. The insurance covers injuries and is operational even after college/university studies.

That means paying college athletes directly after the amendments financially burdens the nonprofit organization and colleges. Athletes receive scholarships and free college tuition and can now earn from endorsement deals. So, there is no reason to add more money to their pockets by directly paying them.

The Financial Stability Impact on Studies Focus

If you add some cash or direct compensation to the college athletes on top of the athletic scholarship, they may never take the education part seriously. They are already earning either close to or the same as professional athletes. That may make them refute the idea of education and the benefits it incurs later in life.

If you will use this as your basis or one of your points, use examples of college students who had to drop out of school after getting better sports deals outside school.

The Financial Burden on Smaller Athletic Programs

Once college athletes are paid, some athletic programs may need more financial support. Such programs have limited budgets and are sometimes supported by bigger sports programs. That means the NCAA and the higher learning institutions, in general, will have to cough more funds to support the college athletes and the programs that need more funding.

Eventually, that may topple the financial stability of all the programs and institutions.

How to Write a Persuasive Essay About “Should College Athletes Be Paid?”

Up to this point, are you supporting or opposing the motion? Whichever side you are on, the following points below will show how you will approach writing should college athletes be paid essay.

Where to Start

Before proceeding, we would like you to review our persuasive essay writing help guide. It's near the bottom of the page (and we hope you don't mind scrolling). It has the elements you should include in any persuasive essay you write.

You will also know the best way to write a persuasive essay and some tips to deploy. If you need help jotting down whether college athletes should be paid, you can ask for the right help on the same page.

Now, let's get down to business. After determining your stand on paying college athletes, follow the steps below to work on it and complete it before the lecturer's deadline.

1. Start Brainstorming

You may agree or disagree with this, but it's true: There is no topic in life that you will approach with an entirely blank mind. Even when the concept is new, you will still ask yourself questions that will help you move to the next step.

When you note down your ideas, we hope you have already determined which side you are on and have gone through the guidelines we have suggested above. If you support the idea that college athletes should be paid, start by checking what you know about them and their status quo regarding financial matters.

The same should happen if you disagree with paying college athletes. The main point here is to start with what you know. How you note down the points depends on your preferred style. You can decide to:

• Write down the points freely as you think
• Create a subject tree that shows how the railcars in your train of thought are connected
• List down the ideas you have before the research
• Create a cluster where your main idea is in the middle, and then link the associated ideas to it
• Write an informal outline showing how you want to approach your topic based on your stand

The above suggestions will help you pour out your thoughts. They don't have to be factual at this point. Finding the truth later through research will help nail that actualization in your mind if you thought wrongly.

2. Research More on Where You Stand

After writing down your thoughts as directed in step 1, the next part is researching based on your stand. Your commentary and approach will be vital whether you support or oppose the motion. It should also be fun as you write.

Much of your research will be the basis of your sources and what you want to cite. The best part about the issue of paying college athletes has already been widely discussed. There are scholarly articles about it, and major media outlets have shared their thoughts and insights and provoked new ways of thinking.

You can also use the NCAA's data, information, and statistics to formulate and strengthen your arguments. Try interviewing some of your school's college athletes and collecting recorded videos to support your position.

A good mix of research will help you create an arsenal of verified sources, from written online articles to what you can find in the library. After collecting your research, use what you found to adjust your brainstorming notes and make a complete outline for your essay.

You can learn more about how to write an essay outline from our detailed blog. That is why we omitted an outline step here.

3. Write a Thesis Statement

Now that your sources are ready, it's time to formulate a strong thesis statement. To understand how you should write your thesis statement, consider that long bridge connecting an island to the mainland as your example.

A bridge has a long beam that people and vehicles use to cross from one end to the other, and supporting columns hold it in place. Your stand will form the claim, which is the beam. You will use the columns to support the claim.

Do you have your stand in mind ready, together with the supporting evidence? Write down a claim that will have its support, all in one sentence. If you cannot come up with something constructive, learn how to write a claim in an essay in detail. After that, apply what you have learned from the blog.

The claim, in general, should:

• Represent your stand on whether college athletes should be paid or not
• Be generalized
• Not necessarily be a fact
• Be in a position to raise a debate
• Be included in the introduction paragraph as the last statement

The supporting details can have the following approaches:

• A cause and effect: Here, you state why they should be paid and the effects paying college athletes will bring. Our cause-and-effect essay writing service has covered this style in detail.
• Problem and solution: This approach involves stating the problem and a solution. Our problem and solution essay writing help experts can explain more about this approach.
• A reasoning statement: In this method, you state the claim and show why in the supporting details.

Here are examples of a thesis statement based on your claim and the supporting details. We have mixed supporting and opposing statements so that you get the idea.

• Cause and effect: The financial burden that collegiate sports face in supporting the free education that college athletes enjoy will worsen when the institutions and NCAA start paying college athletes directly.
• Problem and solution: Paying college athletes will encourage self-sustenance among the involved individuals since they can take care of their personal needs, which affects the main agenda—college athletics.
• A reasoning statement: Many college athletes spend countless hours practicing just like professional athletes in addition to attending college, hence the need for the NCAA and colleges to provide financial support directly to these students.

4. Work on the Introduction Paragraph

You should write the thesis statement before the introduction. The former will guide the latter. The introduction presents a general view of the matter and tells the reader what the roadmap looks like.

Here is how to approach the introduction paragraph:

• Write a definition or hook that will show what you are writing about
• Include a relevance statement(s) showing the topic's importance or impact
• Add the thesis statement you worked on in Step 3

Example:

• Definition/Hook: College athletics involves a lot of work and dedication to making a student-athlete's dream come true.
• Relevance statement: Many student-athletes do not get fair compensation despite their hard work in college sports programs and the countless hours they spend training and getting fit.
• Thesis statement: Paying student-athletes will benefit their efforts since they can cover the untold expenses they incur while training and the time lost when not pursuing their education.

Other tips for the introduction include using some background information about the NCAA. We have provided a considerable chunk of that before the steps. You can also start with the background story of one of the college athletes you know.

Following the introduction method will guide your persuasion in the body paragraphs.

5. Add the Body Details

The body paragraphs are the patty inside the burger because they are between the introduction and the conclusion. In general, what you include in the body paragraphs should support what you said in your thesis statement. They will also dictate how you will conclude the essay, an issue we will discuss in the next step.

Each body paragraph should have the following structure:

• A topic sentence that supports your stand and resonates with the thesis statement
• Credible evidence with citations, statistics, and any other relevant details that will support the topic sentence
• A statement that summarizes what is in the paragraph. It can also be a statement that tells what people should learn from the paragraph contents or helps transition to the next paragraph.

Here is an example of a topic sentence based on one of the thesis statement examples shared in step 3.

The thesis statement: The financial burden that collegiate sports face in supporting the free education that college athletes enjoy will worsen when the institutions and NCAA start paying college athletes directly.

Topic sentence: College athletes already weighty on college sports receive full scholarships, even where higher learning institutions struggle to fund their games and training.

With such a topic sentence, you can now add relevant information. For example, you can show how various colleges and universities struggle to keep up. That can include statistics or quotes from influential individuals discussing such a matter.

Writing your body paragraphs in this manner shows that you have researched the matter before considering your point of view. Read more on how to write an essay to get more insights on approaching this area and how to make an essay longer to help you exhaust all your points based on the collected data.

As you do so, stick to the length requirements in your instructions. If you are not sure of the length, find out how long should a college essay be and then strategize your content writing accordingly.

6. Conclude the Matter

Once you finish working on the body, it's time for a concluding paragraph. This paragraph summarizes everything you have written in the body. It should also connect with the introduction and the thesis statement. A reasonable conclusion should have the following elements:

• Relevance: Where you iterate why the topic is important
• Review: This is a recap of all the points you have discussed
• Summary: Where you summarize the conclusion itself. You can also use this part to trigger a call to action or further research and reading.

Here is an example of a concluding paragraph by a student opposing paying college athletes.

• Relevance: College athletics generally needs more money to support all athletes through direct compensation.
• Review: The student-athletes are already receiving full scholarships and funds from endorsement deals, among other amenities that are deteriorating the current financial burden on college sports.
• Summary: If the NCAA and colleges decide to pay student-athletes, such an amendment will result in the collapse of college sports due to the detrimental increase in the already present financial constraints.

Knowing how to write a conclusion for an essay will help you write a conclusive summary for your essay.

7. Proofread and Format

When you finish writing, take a break and review the essay with fresh eyes. Check out for syntax, grammar, sentence structure, and formatting errors. Also, ensure that your essay follows the format and instructions that your professor has given you.

You can learn how to format an essay using MLA, Chicago, and APA styles if any of these styles are included in your instructions.

It's also a good idea to give the essay to someone else and get a different perspective. That is something that our editing and proofreading services team does. They will be able to detect errors and also show you how to avoid plagiarism in an essay to prevent penalties and cancellation.

So, consider such an option if you need some essay polishing before submitting it.

We Can Help You Write the Persuasive Essay

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Which approach are you taking regarding paying college athletes? Whether you agree or disagree, we have experts who can write it your way. Tell us your stand on the college sports issue, the requirements, and your deadline. Then, let the experts handle it based on your prerequisites.

Conclusion

Whether college athletes should be paid remains a complex and divisive issue. While both sides have strong arguments, the current system has flaws. Students can write an essay on this topic by understanding the key issues and crafting a well-structured argument.

Whether you support or oppose paying college athletes, you must approach the issue critically as you consider your perspective. If you have trouble writing the topic, our essay writers will help you craft it, regardless of your criticism.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Should College Athletes Be Paid?

This is a controversial topic, with arguments from both sides. Some support the idea that student-athletes should be paid since they dedicate more time and energy to their sport. Others think they should not be compensated since the current NCAA amendments provide enough financial compensation.

2. Why Should a College Athlete Be Paid?

A student-athlete spends more time, energy, and resources training and staying fit. Many college athletes cannot sustain the financial pressure of attending intense workouts and being in class. Monetary compensation is also vital in case of a long-term injury.

3. How Can You Help Me Write an Essay About Whether College Athletes Should Be Paid?

Start by submitting your requirements on our order page. After that, choose a suitable essay writer to work on the essay. Our essay writers will help gather the proper research, writing, proofreading, and formatting. You can also contact our argumentative essay writing service if you want it written from that perspective.