I was a very active child and so I played sports year round. Like many children do, I had dreams of playing sports as my career. But not many children even get an opportunity to play at the college level. For those that do and have dreams of playing professionally, they have to work extremely hard to get there. All of this work takes time, so for many, their education isn’t a priority.
NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) figures.
Should Colleges Continue to Support Athletes Who Aren’t There to Educate Themselves?
For those athletes who priorities their sport over their education, are they at college for the right reason? At Division 1 schools, the athletes get scholarships that cover at least some of the cost of attendance to the university, so they have no “buy in.” For the average student like myself, our future options depend on what degree we get and how well we do in college to get that degree. We have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to obtain this degree while many athletes pay nothing and put education on the back burner. On the other hand, the athletes are learning discipline and strategy skills that the average student might not learn through standard classes. Essentially, athletes are getting a different type of education than the average student, but should colleges support this?
As an athlete at my high school, I was representing my school and its values in that particular sport on and off the court/field. This is a common philosophy across the country that many coaches resonate with. Because the athletes at the Pennsylvania State University are watched by thousands of people, they should represent all of Penn State’s values. The nation sees Penn State through its athletics, but shouldn’t a college be known for its academics?
I ask this because most college students are not athletes and primarily go to college to further their education. A college’s athletics bring attention towards it, but in my college selection, athletics were not a factor. Although there could be one explanation. Athletics bring attention and more applicants which could, in turn, increase the quality of students at the Colleges. If this is in fact the reasoning of colleges to continue their support of athletics, is it worth the cost of having students with an athletic focused drive?
This brings me to another question. Why do athletes take classes if their priorities are not to further their education (given many do not graduate)? I would argue that it is to teach them the colleges values of the college so they can practice them in their futures. But this is a question for another blog.
The system of athletics at the college level has its flaws and its benefits, but ultimately, colleges focuses should be placed on the young adults within them and not the money involved.
January 28, 2021 at 11:48 am
I enjoyed reading this blog because it asked a lot of thought provoking question. I too was a multi-sport year-round athlete. And while I took sports seriously, I knew I would never actually compete at a professional level so I continued to focus on academics as my number one priority. I agree that this priority is not shared by many athletes in America because their main drive is gaining a sports scholarship. This needs to be refined and changed because so few athletes do actually make it to the professional level.
January 28, 2021 at 6:33 pm
Jack, I appreciate your holistic approach to this issue. You described it in the round, rather than simply taking one side. In response to your passage, I do think that college athletics and academics are nearly the same in terms of importance. Specifically at The Pennsylvania State University, funding pours into the institution through athletic events. This helps to fund such things as research, which is integral since we are an R-1 university. Though athletes may struggle in school, their efforts are essential for funding the breadth of academic opportunities available at the university.