No. Current estimates are that 80% or more of all colleges and universities are not in compliance.
At the high school level, financial data are unavailable. Participation data reveal that while female comprise 50% of the general student population, they receive only 39% of athletic program opportunities.
7. Does Title IX apply to booster clubs and other types of (similar) support for athletic teams?
Yes. If the school permits an individual or group to donate funds for the benefit of a specific gender or sport, it must also make sure that benefits and services are equivalent for both sexes.
8. Is any sport excluded from Title IX?
No. All sports at an institution are included under Title IX.
During the 1970s, there were four efforts to amend Title IX to exclude football, and each effort failed.
9. Should football be excluded from Title IX coverage?
No. No sport should be excluded from Title IX compliance. Males are entitled to participate in the sports in which they have an interest, and females are entitled to participate in the sports in which they have an interest.
The point is that if male athletes prefer to use 100 participation opportunities playing football, that's fine. If female athletes prefer to use their 100 participation opportunities playing soccer, softball and field hockey, that's fine too.
10. Does Title IX enforcement hurt football programs?
No. Football programs already receive protection under Title IX as mandated by the Javits Amendment which allows increased expenditures based on “the nature of a sport” (i.e., football uniforms and protective equipment cost more than uniforms in other sports).
Some have argued for the exclusion of football from Title IX because it not only costs more to fund a football program, but it earns more money, which funds other sports. This is a myth. Among NCAA football programs in all competitive divisions, 81% spend more than they bring in and contribute nothing to other sport budgets. Even among Division IA football programs, more than a third are running deficits in excess of $1 million per year.
Affording special consideration to football would permit an economic justification for discrimination. This would allow an institution to say, “We're sorry we can't afford to give your daughter the same opportunity to play sports as your son because football needs more money.”
11. Does Title IX mandate decreases in opportunities for male athletes in order to provide increased opportunities for females to participate?
No. Title IX's purpose is to create the same opportunity and quality of treatment for female athletes as is afforded male athletes. The law does not require reductions in opportunities for male athletes.
Some educational institutions have chosen to cut men's non-revenue sports and maintained that this was necessary in order to comply with Title IX, thereby making women's programs the easy scapegoat to blame for the loss of these men's programs. However, it is the school's choice to cut back in this unfortunate manner.
Title IX is not to blame for school priorities that short-change men's minor sports. During the 1980s, when few schools were expanding opportunities for women to play sports, men's minor sports were being eliminated in order to spend more money on football and other men's revenue-producing sports.
Cutting men's sports is not the intent of Title IX. The intent of Title IX is to bring treatment of the disadvantaged gender up to the level of the advantaged group.
12. Does Title IX require institutions to meet “quotas”?
No. Every institution has three options to meet the participation standard of Title IX, only one of which is to provide athletic participation opportunities in substantial proportion to each gender enrollment. They only need to meet one of the following:
Option 1: Compare the ratio of male and female athletes to male and female undergraduates, if the resulting ratios are close, the school is probably in compliance with the participation standard.
Option 2: Demonstrate that the institution has a history and continuing practice of program expansion for the underrepresented gender.
Option 3: Demonstrate that the institution has already effectively accommodated the interests and abilities of the underrepresented gender.
13. Has Title IX increased female participation over the last 25 years?
Yes. Since the passage of Title IX, increases in athletic participation for both males and females have occurred at both the high school and collegiate levels.
In 1970, only 1 out of every 27 high school girls played varsity sports. Today, that figure is one in 2.5. Female high school participation increased from 294,015 in 1971 to 2,472,043 in 1997. College participation has more than tripled, from 31,000 to 128,208.
Both male and female athletic participation made steep increases immediately after the passage of Title IX at the high school level. Men's and women's rises in participation have also followed a similar pattern at the collegiate levels. However, male athletes still receive twice the participation opportunities afforded female athletes.
14. Are females less interested in sports than males?
No. There is no evidence suggesting girls are inherently less interested in sports than boys. We do know that at an early age (six to nine years old), they are equally as interested. However, participation opportunities decline sharply as girls get older.
The participation rate of boys (twice that of girls) reflects the opportunities that are offered to them — not lack of interest on the part of girls.
15. How do I know if my school is in compliance with Title IX?
Ask. Every school, by law, has to have a Title IX Coordinator. Find out who this person is and ask them about the school's compliance. Title IX covers many areas, from participation numbers to quality of available coaching. If the school doesn't have a Title IX Coordinator, report it to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education.
At the high school level, find out if the school is accommodating the sports interests of both boys and girls. Are there programs not being offered for girls where there's substantial interest to field a program? Compare the number of participation opportunities available to boys (not the number of teams but the actual number of players) to the number of opportunities for girls.
At the college level, it's become a little easier for anyone to find out if an institution is in compliance. In 1994, Congress passed the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) which requires all institutions of higher education to report each year on athletic participation numbers, scholarships, program budgets and expenditures, and coaching salaries by gender. This information is to be made available to anyone in a timely fashion (1-2 weeks) upon request. Simply call the institution's athletic department and request it. As it is broken down by gender, it's easy to see whether an institution is being equitable.
Call or e-mail the Women's Sports Foundation to obtain a “checklist” of questions to ask and the publication, Playing Fair.
16. Who is responsible for enforcing Title IX?
Schools and colleges are responsible for complying with federal law.
The OCR is specifically charged with enforcing the law. Anyone can file an OCR complaint and the identity of the complaining party will be kept confidential.
Courts — affected parties have the individual right to sue (courts may award damages).
17. What is the penalty for non-compliance with Title IX?
The ultimate penalty for non-compliance is withdrawal of federal funds from the offending institution. Institutions may also be required by a court or the OCR to make changes in their programs and to pay damages to the students for their lost opportunities.
Although most institutions are not in compliance with Title IX, no institution has lost any federal funds as a result of non-compliance with Title IX (Office for Civil Rights states that it does not have sufficient staff/budget to fully enforce Title IX). Institutions have had to pay substantial damages and attorneys fees in cases brought to court.
18. Are institutions prohibited from retaliating against persons who file Title IX complaints or lawsuits?
Yes. Retribution is prohibited.
However, there are many coaches of women's teams who have complained about Title IX violations and who have not had their contracts renewed, ostensibly for other reasons.
19. The boys' teams receive letter jackets from the booster club at the end of the year while the girls' teams receive certificates from the school. Is this a Title IX violation?
Yes. If permission is given by the athletic director for an action or expenditure that benefits the boys' programs, a similar benefit must be provided to the girls' programs.
20. Is it a violation of Title IX when cheerleaders, pep squads and/or bands are provided for men's athletic events but not for women's athletics events?
Yes. Cheerleaders, pep squads and bands are considered publicity services. If they are provided for the men's program, they must be provided for the women's program.
21. Does Title IX require an equal number of teams for male and female athletes?
No. Title IX deals with participation opportunities or number of individual participation slots for males and females to play — not numbers of teams.
22. Our high school girls play at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays, and the boys play at 7:00 p.m. on Fridays. Is this a violation of Title IX?
Yes. Later times for games are more valued because parents, friends and spectators can attend.
In order to comply with Title IX, many schools flip-flop early and late starting times for men's and women's teams.
23. Can “cheerleading” be considered a varsity sport?
Generally, no. However, if they have a coach, practice as frequently as a regular varsity team and compete against other cheerleading teams on a regular basis and more frequently than they appear to cheer for other teams, they may meet the definition of a varsity team.