College athletes should definetely be paid. In a world where the average university tuition costs around thirty two thousand dollars, a college athlete's needs shall be taken into consideration. Imagine having to struggle with the university tuition, learning in university and also participating in competitive sports. It is quite frustrating, ain't it? Now, if we were to pay these students, then they will be more motivated on actually doing the sports they like, the stress will be more managable and, based on an NCCA study, that states that athletes study harder than non atheletes, they will even have a higher chance of graduating university with better grades.

First of all, I never said that the universities get rich based on these college athletes. As you have tried to mention in your argument when you said that 1.6% of football players ever make it to the NFL. I just said that the tuitions these college students pay are enormous and if you combine every tuition from every student, make sure that if the athletes are getting paid, the university will not lose a lot of money. Again, you say that only 1.6% actually make it pro. But have you thought about the fact that if these college students were to get paid, then they will be even more motivated to do this sport they like and the percentage of students who make it pro will actually be bigger? Have you considered the fact that maybe it's the university's problem that they cannot motivate these students enough? Moreover, the argument that students will not learn more because they will always be focused on sports may be true in the sense that they will have less time to study. However, a Harvard Medical School study states that exercising can actually boost your memory and critical thinking. So although they may study less, the time they will spend study will be more valuable than someone who doesn't do as much sport as them. Finally, a university should always encourage their students to pursue their dreams no matter what, and by helping them with money. The students will get closer to the university officials, thus making them study more and pursuing their dream as an athlete without the fear of not being appreciated enough by those around.

Besides the monetary value, these college students could also face emotional value by being paid by universities, as they will feel like their dreams or hobbies are being sustained and are being appreciated by not only friends or family, but university officials. And when the friends and family are not there, it's good to know that at least the university believes in your dream. Moreover, an article published on the National Library of Medicine from USA states the following thing: Belief in a just world positively predicts college students’ learning satisfaction through gratitude and learning engagement, suggesting that colleges and universities should create a fair learning environment and enhance college students’ sense of gratitude, so as to improve college students’ belief in a fair world and gratitude level, thus promoting their learning engagement and finally improving their learning satisfaction. Moreover, students should be appreciated more in order to pursue their dreams and their academic purpose.