Athletic Scholarship - Arguments For and Against Sports Scholarships

Arguments For and Against Sports Scholarships

Critics have labeled the term to be an oxymoron, stating that physically talented persons selected for their ability to run, jump, throw, kick or hit a ball are retained to staff a school's teams, and paid for their services while being classified as "scholars". Some critics of the athletic scholarship system have coined the term "jockship" to describe the awards. The term is based on the word jock, a mildly derisive American slang term that plays on the stereotype of the "dumb athlete".

Such scholarships have been characterized as salaries paid to the persons selected in order to induce them to perform for the hiring school. (The characterization of the salary as a "scholarship" is deemed necessary because, generally, at most American colleges, participation as a member of the school's athletic teams is a privilege accorded exclusively to enrolled students, and team members are, in theory, amateurs.)

Supporters contend that many students would be unable to receive a higher education at all, but for the availability of athletic scholarships, due to the prohibitive costs associated with university education. The theory is that while most academic scholarships are predominantly awarded to students of middle and upper class backgrounds (thought of as counter-intuitive, as they are typically considered more affluent), many feel the tendency does, in fact, lean toward athletic scholarships being awarded to less-privileged students, who are generally members of a minority.