re: Should collegiate athletes receive stipends?

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I'll say yes. Collegiate sports are like a full time job on top of classes. Not saying these kids live a woeful life by any means, but they do work hard and a lot of money is made off their backs. Obviously I agree that they have the opportunity to receive a good education in return, which is huge.

Just have the NCAA foot the bill, they're good for it.

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That's always the view I've had, i.e. sports are incredibly time-intensive and place fairly significant demands on the student-athletes. I'm not certain a stipend is the answer, for all the reasons mentioned in this thread, but I would suggest that the NCAA move to protect the scholarships of underperforming or injured players...giving them, in effect, a certain amount of 'job security.' Certain safeguards would have to be put into place to prevent athletes from gaming the system (e.g. suddenly quitting on the team so s/he can keep a full ride without the effort) but, if you're not going to pay them, it does seem fair to at least compensate them in other ways. For instance (just spit-balling here)you could allow a given athlete to take the route of an early entrant in the draft by, say, letting them quit the team with one final year of college paid gratis. I'm sure others can come up with alternative ideas along the same lines.