I think that not paying players, even players on full scholarship, is a form of keeping wages artificially low for skilled workers. Let's say a prominent 5 star recruit is deciding on a college and he has two paths in front of him: play on a full scholarship for a top tier D1 school and basically major in football or go to Harvard and get a degree in business.

Both options in this scenario have the same payment, one college degree, but the value of the degrees are vastly different. So when the 5 star recruit chooses to get a sociology degree from Alabama, if he doesn't make it to the NFL, he'll be left high and dry when it comes to future earnings, whereas when a two star recruit gets a Harvard business degree, which in the eyes of the NCAA is the same value, he can go on to having a long career.

That's why I believe that colleges should be able to pay their players. Key word there is SHOULD BE. If Troy University can't afford to pay its players, it shouldn't have to. I don't think that players need to be making $100k+ a year, but saying that you can get $25k per year is completely reasonable when you consider how much money some programs bring in.

Will it destroy parity in college football? Maybe, but most likely not. It's not like many players chooses between Georgia and Georgia Southern.