Over the past five years or so college athletics has seen an identity crisis, risking student education for corruption and billions of dollars. Who is to blame?

“I would say the university and university employees are ultimately to blame,” said Fresno Bee sports writer Marek Warszawski. “Certain universities have accepted the financial rewards for becoming football and basketball factories.”

Collegiate sports have taken hold of universities for a financial profit. Some schools` making millions off of the backs of students without realizing they are doing harm to the student and their respective school.

Schools are overlooking an hole in academics to satisfy tickets holders at the cost of student’s education.

Some schools lowered their standards to admit athletes who aren’t equipped to be college students.

Star high school players who wouldn’t have been able to even look at a college brochure because of how they are doing in the classroom are now being accepted into some of the best colleges in the country because of what they can do on the field.

Yet when they get to the campus, schools aren’t helping the “student athletes” progress in the classroom. With restricted schedules that only allow for progression on the field, what are these athletes getting if they aren’t actually being educated?

Responsibility goes to the parents and school administrators who made these athletes feel entitled and gave them better grades in the classroom so they could be eligible for sports.

It started at a young age where sports were valued above all else. The pressure to succeed was multiplied when  they got to college.

At the end of the day, athletes are receiving a piece of paper token of their time there. Some schools are  giving a water-downed education for montaterial gain..

The key to fixing the problem is raising the standards and requirements for athletes. If we hold them to a higher academic standard , schools wouldn’t be in scandals  just to keep them eligible.

North Carolina University’s athletic program was  caught earlier this year when a basketball player was taking bogus classes and tutors were doing assignments for the athletes so he could stay eligible for the season.

When it gets to the point where a school invents a fake class to keep a player on the field, what does that say about the player, university and education as a whole.

The fake classes are an insult to students, educators and the university.

Schools have to get back to the basics of educating students, then letting them be athletes. Playing a sports is a privilege not a right.

“If you want purity, look to the  lower levels,” Warszawski said. “Those football and basketball players are truly students first who are playing for love of the game.”