The NCAA, colleges and the media have all been investigating and hosting public discussions, attempting to find a solution to the dilemma that's threatening to remove "amateur" from college athletics.
"One thing that sets the fundamental is there's very few members, and virtually no university president, that think it's a good idea to convert student-athletes into paid employees, literally into professionals," NCAA president Mark Emmert said in an interview at Marquette University. "Then you have something very different from collegiate athletics. One of the guiding principles [of the NCAA] has been that this is about students who play sports."
Dartmouth women's soccer coach Theresa Romagnolo, a graduate of the University of Washington, does not believe it is time for student-athletes to be paid.
"I understand where it comes from," Romagnolo said. "Especially football. Football players at the big schools, they're not getting paid but they're raising an incredible amount of money for their institutions. At the same time, the other sports can only function because of the revenue football's bringing. I think that's kind of what college athletics is about, creating more participation among different sports for males and females."
Men's soccer coach Chad Riley agreed, but said some special circumstances warrant financial assistance.
"What's tricky is what a full scholarship entails," Riley explained. "Student-athletes come from very different backgrounds, and if you come from a poor neighborhood, sometimes your parents don't have the money to fly you home. Small situations like covering the cost for a student to fly home for the holidays would be a valid reason for a small stipend."
When Romagnolo and Riley were playing at their respective universities, neither believed they should have been paid.
"I was a full scholarship student-athlete at [the University of] Notre Dame, so I felt like I was getting paid," Riley said. "I can understand from some of the other sides that when you're playing in front of 80,000 people and your coaches are making millions. But in soccer, you're not coming into contact with that a lot. When it comes to student-athletes getting paid, I think we really have to protect the amateurism for university and college sports."
Interestingly, the debate over pay-for-play has revolved almost exclusively around football, with occasional mention of basketball, much like coverage of scandals in college sports do.
Oklahoma State University, for example, is investigating whether rules were broken after Sports Illustrated published several stories that alleged cash payments to players and academic misconduct.
"[There's] enormous tension right now that's growing between the collegiate model and the commercial model," Emmert said in the interview at Marquette. "And, by the way, this is nothing new. This tension has been going on forever and ever. It has gotten greater now because the magnitude of dollars has gotten really, really large."
In the past decade, the NCAA penalized the University of Southern California, the University of Miami and Ohio State University, among others, for scandals involving student-athletes receiving money or other financial gifts for outstanding play.
Former University of Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green and a handful of Ohio State players were suspended for selling their game-worn jerseys. But when Green was suspended, Ohio State sold 22 variations of his No. 8 jersey. Georgia's profit on popular players is characteristic of the wider discussion regarding NCAA profits from student-ahtletes.
"What is the NCAA using the profit for?" Romagnolo asked. "Are they giving the money back to [colleges]? Are they keeping the money? That would be my question."
Investigatory missteps severely weakened the NCAA's credibility over the past year.
The NCAA allowed last year's Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel to escape punishment when it was unable to prove he was paid for signing autographs. More recently, the NCAA is a defendant in a class action lawsuit brought by Edward O'Bannon, a former college athlete, for improperly using college athletes' likenesses.
On Sept. 21, players from prestigious Football Bowl Subdivision schools accesorized their uniforms with wristbands reading "APU," which stands for "All Players United." Players from the SEC, Big-12 and other conferences also wore the wristband.
APU is an effort coordinated by the National Collegiate Players Association, an advocacy group made by former and current college athletes to raise awareness of player rights issues, including the O'Bannon lawsuit, compensation and concussion treatments.
According to NCAA bylaws, even giving five dollars to a hungry player for lunch is against the rules, putting schools at risk of the dreaded "lack of institutional control" charge.
Powerhouse conferences and major colleges have been discussing how to address the situation, though any solution would have to be part of a massive overhaul to the NCAA's governance structure. Major resistance to a pay-for-play program comes from smaller colleges, like San Diego State University or Boise State University, because their athletic programs lack the budgets to offer pay competitive with larger universities.
NCAA's Division I Board of Directors has twice approved a rule change that would allow schools to give athletes a stipend to cover expenses not covered by their scholarship clothes, travel, meals out with their friends but the full membership has overridden it, with some smaller schools saying they were not interested or did not have the money to pay stipends.
"Athletes receive scholarships, but nothing beyond that," head football coach Buddy Teevens said. "They're on campus year round, 12 months of the year, and they have no job to earn extra money. There's no money for hanging out with friends, going to movies, going on dates or doing some of the things other students have the chance to do."
Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany has proposed scholarships that would cover everything, including some money to cover living expenses. Most Division I scholarships only include tuition, room and board and books. Pac-12 and Big 12 commissioners Larry Scott and Dan Beebe endorsed the idea, and SEC commissioner Mike Slive said he would consider it. Delany estimates the difference between a current scholarship and full-cost scholarship is between $2,000 and $5,000 per year.
When Teevens played football for Dartmouth, he said there was never any thought about receiving money for pay. He acknowledged that today's student-athletes face different pressures because of how much money college athletics now generate compared with 40 years ago. Teevens said he would support a Dartmouth initiative offering additional stipends for student-athletes, but that, like other Ivies, Dartmouth limits the amount of time students spend practicing and playing sports, making it unlikely that any Ivies would ever offer stipends.
Teevens said his coaching experience at the University of Illinois, the University of Florida and Stanford University provided insight into the ongoing pay-for-play debate.
Teevens recalled an instance when a player did not have money for a coat and his mother could not afford to buy one for him. Because he was at school during the summer, he was never given an opportunity to earn money to purchase a coat. A small stipend would have easily covered the cost.
Dartmouth athletes said the Colleges' athletics atmosphere differs from major programs and that pay-for-play does not incite as much controversy.
"Playing a sport like football is a significant time commitment, but we understand what we're undertaking," co-captain Garrett Waggoner '13 said. "It's not a burden, and we enjoy the camaraderie."
Dartmouth offers need-based financial aid, and all aid is separate from the football program.
Waggoner said he might support students in larger programs receiving small stipends.
"If students are forced to live without something basic because they have no opportunity to get a job to buy necessities because they were playing football, then something additional, within a reasonable amount, should be fine," he said.
Riley and Romagnolo both agreed that amateurism should be maintained in college sports.
"It's not a professional sport, and the primary reason people go to college is education first and not to be a professional," Romagnolo said. "A scholarship to me is like getting paid, because you're getting some or all of your education paid for."
