VOA · Education
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed4:352024-11-11public domain
The Education beat reports on schools, universities, and learning trends worldwide. Expect academic vocabulary in a news format — a good bridge between everyday English and the lecture-style audio used in exams like IELTS Section 4.
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01Name, image, and likeness, or NIL, deals have enabled student-athletes to make money while going to college in the United States.
02But outside of some big-name athletes, many say that a degree remains the biggest, most important prize for going to school.
03For years, college athletes could only receive free education and living costs while competing for school teams.
04But that changed in 2021 when the U.S.
05Supreme Court ruled that athletes could earn money by selling their name, image, and likeness.
06Well-known athletes like Jaden Daniels, now with the Washington Commanders, and Caitlin Clark, who currently plays for the Indiana Fever, made large amounts of money while in college.
07But several athletes told the Associated Press that the money available to them through NIL remains a small consideration compared with earning a degree and competing in the sports they love.
08NIL deals were not on Johnny Bothorf's mind when he transferred to Northern Arizona University on a football scholarship from a small college in Missouri.
09Bothorf said, I think the reality for most college athletes is things haven't really changed that much.
10We just got an extra little bit of cash in our pockets.
11For some athletes, NIL money is a reason to stay longer in college.
12But Anthony Leal said he is staying at Indiana University for a different reason.
13Leal plays for Indiana's basketball team.
14Under college athletic rules, he can play four seasons for the team within five years.
15Leal already received his undergraduate degree last year.
16But he is coming back as a fifth-year student to get a master's in business administration.
17I'm about 70% through the program in the Kelly School of Business, he said.
18I wanted to get that degree.
19Another change in college rules also makes it easy for athletes to transfer and play the next season.
20Under previous rules, athletes had to sit out a year before competing.
21Now, the top athletes can enter what is called a transfer portal to get more NIL money at another school and compete right away.
22University of Nevada Las Vegas football player Matthew Sluka, for one, recently left the team in a dispute over an NIL payment.
23His representative said he was promised payment, but never received it.
24But Ray Harrison said NIL money was not the reason why he left Presbyterian College and joined the basketball team at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
25Harrison said, I just came out here because this is where God led my heart.
26Of course, we win two conference championships, and that changes things.
27A college education remains a dream for many younger athletes.
28Tavarius Covington from Chicago wants to continue to play football in college.
29He hopes that football will help him become the first in his family to go to college and earn a business degree.
30He also wants to be an example for his younger brother.
31I want him to know there is more to look forward to coming out of high school, Covington said.
32I'm John Russell.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
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