Mar 21, 2015; College Park, MD, USA; The President of the United States, Barack Obama applauds after the Princeton Tigers defeated the Green Bay Phoenix during the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Center. (Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)

Add President Obama to the list of people who thinks college athletes deserve more than they get.

In an interview with the Huffington Post on Friday, the president said that the NCAA should require schools to offer guaranteed athletic scholarships “no matter what.”



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"Students need to be taken better care of because they are generating a lot of revenue here," Obama said. "An immediate step that the NCAA could take – that some conferences have already taken – is if you offer a scholarship to a kid coming into school, that scholarship sticks, no matter what.

“It doesn't matter whether they get cut, it doesn't matter whether they get hurt. You are now entering into a bargain and responsible for them."

The Power Five conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) have already taken the measure suggested by the President – four-year guaranteed scholarships that cannot be cut short for athletics reasons (provided the student-athlete remains in good standing with the university). Additionally, according to the NCAA, all other Division I conferences can implement the same rule if they choose.

Obama seemed discouraged with the millions of dollars that flow around collegiate athletics, but stopped short of saying that some of that money should end up in the pockets of student-athletes.

From the Huffington Post:

“What does frustrate me is where I see coaches getting paid millions of dollars, athletic directors getting paid millions of dollars, the NCAA making huge amounts of money, and then some kid gets a tattoo or gets free use of a car and suddenly they’re banished,” Obama said. “That’s not fair.”

"In terms of compensation, I think the challenge would just then start being, do we really want to just create a situation where there are bidding wars?" Obama asked. "How much does a Anthony Davis get paid as opposed to somebody else? And that I do think would ruin the sense of college sports."

Above all, Obama’s main point of emphasis was to make sure those who are injured in athletic competition are completely covered health-wise, including the financial burdens that may come with surgery and rehabilitation.

“You’ve got to make sure that if they get injured while they’re playing that they’re covered,” Obama said.

***This post has been updated to reflect the list of conferences that guarantee four-year scholarships.***

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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