Are Student-Athletes in the NCAA Exploited?

In this thesis I will be examining the claim that American student-athletes are exploited, and I will begin by motivating the issue as one worthy of philosophical inquiry. After then looking at the legitimacy of the moral claim that the governing body of American college athletics uses to deny payment to student-athletes, I will look at different theories of exploitation and how they might apply to college athletics. Then, using Alan Wertheimer’s theory of exploitation, I will argue that student-athletes are exploited in a morally significant way by their schools. Finally, I will outline an initial proposal for a new system of college athletics that avoids the exploitation of student-athletes. I will argue that despite some practical and theoretical issues, we can design a system that avoids the exploitation of student- athletes.