At almost every NCAA school in the country, there are athletes on full scholarships. Athletic scholarships have become a way of life in this country, as have scholarship players staying for a year or two and then leaving.

These players are leaving to sign lucrative contracts to professional teams. But to sign these big money deals, they have to break an agreement they already had with the universities. When coming to a college on a full scholarship, they agree to play the sport at that university in return for a free education.

This agreement should be considered a contract. If they want to receive a free education, they should have to stay at the university for their entire eligibility. The schools put large amounts of money into these players during their time at school, and sometimes the school only gets one season of performance for the investment. The universities allow the players to go to school for free ‘- while the rest of us suffer ever-rising tuition ‘- and treat them like royalty.

These days, receiving a full athletic scholarship is essentially being paid to go to college. When players leave early, they should have to pay back what they were ‘paid’ to attend the schools, especially since they are signing bonuses that completely dwarf the cost of attending a university.

In women’s athletics, the athletes usually stay the full four years. In recent history, the only notable player not to play her full four years of eligibility was superstar Candace Parker of the Tennessee women’s basketball team. She finished her degree and redshirted during her freshman year. Oklahoma Sooner star center Courtney Paris made a promise going after her final home game that if the Sooners did not win the National Championship, she would pay back her scholarship in full, all $64,000 of it. After her team lost in the National Semifinals, she said she would keep her promise.

This issue doesn’t normally affect Northeastern because, in the past, the university rarely draws players who have the talent to leave early. But just last week, the hockey team lost its All-American and Hobey Award finalist Brad Thiessen. His decision to leave puts the hockey team in unknown waters. Many people are now wondering what next season will entail, and what could have been.

‘- Nathan Vaughan is a

sophomore biochemistry major and member of The News staff.