Scholarships Rewarding Special Talents
For many years now, advocates for giving out scholarships based only on financial need have been pushing to remove special abilities from the criteria to award the money. This proposed system is already in use in the form of financial aid. Scholarships were created to reward individuals who exhibited talent that would benefit the college. Therefore, the basis for giving scholarships should consist equally of scholastic achievement, athletic ability, and need. Scholarships are in place to reward special talents. They should remain separate from financial aid where the only determining factor is need.
The issue of scholarship selection criteria is mainly one of morality. It is not fair for students to be judged only the number of dollars in their pockets when applying for scholarships. Students who obtain scholarships receive them because they are special in some way. Special students should be rewarded in the form of a scholarship. Should talents be taken out of the equation, the students may not try as hard to excel at their talents. There is less motivation for students to achieve because they learn that hard work is not rewarded with scholarships. This is a horrible lesson to teach the students of this country. It is immoral and unfair.
Scholastic achievement and learning are the main purposes for colleges and universities. Accordingly, students should be rewarded for their superior academic achievement. Take for example two students of the same economic standing. Tim is a straight A student while Josh commonly receives C's and D's. If both students were to be admitted into the same college and apply for a scholarship, they would be treated equally under the system in which scholarships are given out on the basis of financial need alone. This is not fair to the student who studied day and night. Tim has proven that he is capable of superior scholastic achievement and learning, which are the main purposes of colleges and universities. Josh has not shown this, but under the proposed system, he may be awarded a scholarship instead of Tim.
The reasons for including athletic ability in scholarship criteria do not relate directly to scholastic achievement and learning, however, they are just as important because of the benefits that good athletic programs bring. Athletic programs generate millions of dollars in revenue for many schools based on how good they are.
Before any student is accepted, every decision would be made through the lens of the “original position”. When in the original position, the admissions “...must decide once and for all what is to count among them as just and unjust” (Rawls 129), in order to determine what would make a good student at the school. This process would allow the school to fairly choose students to attend the school, regardless of class or race, because the school admissions only see if the student fits the criteria set by the original position. However, this process of selecting students runs into the problem of tuition. Some qualified students would be able to pay for the cost, while the others would not be able to. To accommodate for this, Rawls would have the school engage in economic inequalities “to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged…” (Rawls 131). This would mean that Rawls would encourage the school to use their financial capabilities ensure that every qualified student is able to attend the school, even if means using taxpayer money. By the end of the application period, all students that meet the school’s criteria will be offered admission with or without financial
I agree with Ripley’s idea that schools across our country focus on athletics over academics; but, I do not see this as a negative effect. Those students that achieve academically and athletically will often times receive scholarships. These scholarships are used to pursue a higher education. For me, my athletic scholarship combined with my academic scholarship allowed me to attend the university I wanted to. Finances prohibit many students so the more scholarships awarded the better. Also, international students are often times recruited to play a sport. This opportunity gives them a chance to receive a concrete American education. With so many scholarships and eligibility in jeopardy, athletes must remain on their best behavior. This positive influence on behavior is a great effect from participation in athletics. Due to these factors, I do not agree with Ripley’s argument that the cost of athletics to schools outweigh the
The payment of NCAA student-athletes will deteriorate the value of an education to the athletes. The value of an education for a young man or woman cannot be measured. It is our gate way to success as...
...ns. The evidence supports the fact that if racial preferences are not used in admissions, the country will be withholding quality educations, both graduate and undergraduate, from large numbers of minority students. One of the staples of slavery when it is employed in this world is preventing those who are enslaved from becoming educated. We must work for the advancement of the human race as a whole, and this includes making sure that entire races of people are not left off prematurely on the road of education.
The idea of freedom and equal opportunity that America was built on has sadly been lost and replaced with a system of quality education only being accessible by the wealthy. In-state college tuition should be free for all students meeting admission requirements, allowing students from the full spectrum of economic backgrounds to have the same opportunity to receive the same education. The incidence of poverty in the U.S. is directly linked to educational level. When a college degree is earned, income levels rise (College Board). The best use of federal government anti-poverty funds is not another welfare or assistance program; it is to make college education affordable for everyone.
Today there are over 450,000 college athletes and the National College Athletics Association (NCAA) faces a difficult decision on whether or not college athletes should be paid. Many people believe that they should and many believe they should not. There are several benefits that college’s athletes receive for being a student athlete. Why should they receive even more benefits than their scholarship and numerous perks?
Pennington, Bill. "Expectations Lose to Reality of Sports Scholarships." nytimes.com. New York Times, 10 Mar. 2008. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
...on the actual implementation of preferences. Students should be able to know the variances used to in admissions and levels of academic training needed. This will help reduce the mismatching.
If you or anyone else knows a college athlete, especially one who is on scholarship, you would think that they have it easy. Free tuition and room and board; meanwhile you have to work at a part time job and actually pay for your schooling. But in all reality these people earned what they got, because many of these students did not come from wealthy families. According to USA Today, 85% of college athletes who are on scholarships live below the poverty line. So by receiving a scholarship for athletics it is giving them a chance to improve their own quality of life, and as humans we deserve to at least have some sense of self-worth. Athletes get many accommodations while attending school, aside from them going for free; they c...
For instance, there are so many ways to obtain scholarships; the government offers college grants to those individuals who excel in their education. Also, there are countless universities or even state college offers scholarships where anyone can apply. Considering, this scholarship can help students to save money, providing that, it requires hard work. On the other hand, another way to obtain scholarship is through sports, hence, any agents will recruit novice to play in some specific
Obtaining a scholarship through athletics has always been a number one goal for athletes and is more than enough to compensate for the hard work. The article “Pay to Play: should college athletes be paid?” states “According to the NCAA, [National Collegiate Athletic Association] college athletes often receive grants worth more than $100,000” (Birkenes). Athletes receiving grants of such a high price should have more than enough money to cover college needs. The payment of college athletes would cause not only athletic, but academic scholarships to be lowered and the cause of attendance to rise. The NCAA prohibits the payment of college athletes because athletic scholarships have been raised. In the article “The Call to Pay College Athletes Misdiagnosis the Problem” Yankah writes “The [United States Court of Appeals] required that the NCAA increase scholarship payouts to cover the full cost of attendance…” From the article one can understand that athletic scholarships have been raised, so colleges will not have to pay
College athletes are not forced into playing the sport that they have devoted their time to during their years in secondary education. They continue to play into the college level for their love of the game. And for this, many college athletes are offered full scholarships. Today’s tuition for many schools are so expensive that without the scholarships that some of the students receive, they would not be able to attend college at all. For these students, college sports offer a great avenue to obtain an education that otherwise would not have been available for them. This allows them opportunity to study something that they can use to build a better life for themselves and their families.
The scholarships that most athletes receive are basically another form of way of them getting paid. They get scholarships worth up to $250,000 for their whole college career. Scholarships should be given to athletes full cost. It should cover everything they need in college. Maybe the top key players or known players on each team would be paid. They would either receive more or all. Most of the top recruit athletes used to be paid by colleges to come play for them.
Some people do not enjoy or feel like they are mature enough to take on the responsibility of college. College is known to be very difficult and if a student is not responsible enough to work for their grades or feel discouraged when things get difficult, then the scholarship would end-up wasted and the money the scholarship owners spent would also be wasted. Eventually many scholarship companies would probably have to stop funding the scholarship because of the high demand. Also, if a company only has enough funding to pay for a small number of students then how would the government choose who to force to accept the scholarship? And could said students deny the scholarships if they do not want to attend? If so then it seems like it could be a little hypocritical if they do not allow all accepted students to deny the privilege, which creates a paradox of some sort, and if not then the scholarship is wasted. Scholarships also usually cover a portion of the tuition need and some families do not have enough money to cover the rest of the tuition. This would cause a family or the person being forced to attend college to go into debt for something they did not want to do, let alone pay for, and can cause unnecessary problems for many
It is very challenging for student athletes to be able to manage their time between academics and athletics. It can also be difficult for colleges to help their students balance their time between these two very time requiring activities. Colleges and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, also known as the NCAA, want their students athletes to succeed in the classroom, but they also need student athletes to practice and compete in athletic events because they profit off of their success on the field.