By JULIA TORRES

The National College Athletics Association is a “nonprofit” company, yet they receive 12 billion dollars a year, thanks to their student athletes, who don’t receive a dime.

The NCAA is the head of all college sports across the country. About 450,000 student athletes play in the NCAA.

For the athletes’ talents, the students are given a free education; in exchange they must abide by a code, where an amateur is prohibited from accepting any kind of payment or benefit beyond their scholarships.

“Amateur means you play for the game and not for the money,” Joe Nocera, writer for the New York Times said.

The NCAA is strict with codes and rules. Every year athletes must resign their contract, to remind them of the code preventing them from accepting any form of payment for their playing.

About 12 billion dollars are stacked up every year by the NCAA. They receive 1.6 billion in ticket sales, 1.5 billion in donations, 1.2 billion in TV contracts, and 1 billion in sponsorship and royalties. They receive something priceless, a free education from scholarships which can range from $28,000 to $40,000 depending on the school, according to the documentary “Schooled” for the price of college sports.

“They never even asked us to be in the NCAA football video game, they just put us in there,” Jonathan Franklin, UCLA running back said.

The NCAA gives players the chance to be seen, to be put in the spotlight, so that they can receive recognition from professional coaches, such as the NBA and NFL coaches, to be drafted into the pros. So, the player’s main focus is to put 100 percent into showing everything they’ve got during games, leaving their grades in the dust.

Student athletes need someone to find a loophole in the contract to break the NCAA code and have it fair for all student athletes competing for their education and future careers.