by Erin Carr

Created on: April 16, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

"There are 380,000 NCAA student athletes, and most of us will go pro in something other than sports." NCAAstudent.org

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the governing body for hundreds of thousands of student-athletes playing dozens of sports at colleges and universities all over the country. NCAA-sanctioned athletics are divided into three divisions: I, II, and III, as well as several sub-divisions in certain sports like football and ice hockey. The increase in popularity of college sports in recent years, and savvy marketing by the NCAA, has comfortably padded the pocketbooks of many universities, generating revenue that rivals that of some professional sports teams. A heightened interest in the performance of elite student-athletes involved in these sports has sparked a debate among fans that perhaps college athletes should be paid for their "services" to their schools. As a former NCAA Division III student-athlete, I find the idea that college athletes be paid for their participation ludicrous.

When people hear the words "NCAA" or "college sports," they usually think of the players they watch on TV during March Madness or the BCS Championships. What most fail to realize is that the NCAA oversees not just these elite-level student-athletes, but the hundreds of thousands of others who compete in oblivion in lower divisions, smaller schools, or less popular sports. The main argument supporting payment of collegiate athletes is that their performances increase notoriety for their universities and generate millions of dollars of income in the form of ticket sales, merchandise, alumni donations, and other financial contributions; thus, they should be allowed to share in some of that money. However, not all sports programs generate the same kind of revenue.

The first issue that must be addressed when discussing the issue of payment for collegiate athletes is this disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots." For example, compare the annual operating budgets of major Division I school and perennial college basketball powerhouse the University of Connecticut and Skidmore College, a small Division III school and my alma mater. Both schools support several varsity sports and hundreds of student-athletes, all governed by the NCAA. According to the University of Connecticut website (www.uconn.edu), their annual budget is $1,601.4 million; approximately $50 million of that supports the athletic department alone. Conversely, the total operating

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