In order to comply with the athletic requirements of Title IX, educational institutions must meet the requirements of three areas:
1. Participation The first compliance prong of Title IX deals with overall sport and athletic participation offerings available for men and women. A three-part test for participation opportunities determines if institutions provide female and male students with equal athletic opportunities. In order to comply, institutions must pass one of these three tests:
a) Prong One: Proportionality-male and females participate in athletics in numbers substantially proportional to their respective enrollments in school, or
b) Prong Two: History and Continued Practice of Program Expansion-the institution shows a history and continuing practice of program expansion which is demonstrably responsive to the developing interests and abilities of members of the underrepresented sex, or
c) Prong Three: Full Accommodation of Interests and Abilities- the institution demonstrates that the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex (females) are fully and effectively accommodated by the existing programs.
An institution fulfills the compliance requirement for participant opportunities if it adheres to any (or just one) of the three tests listed above.
2. Athletic Financial Assistance The second major compliance prong of Title IX encompasses athletic financial assistance. The only monetary requirement of Title IX deals with the area of scholarships. Scholarships must be allocated in proportion to the number of female and male students participating in intercollegiate athletics. Funding for women's and men's programs does not have to be equal, but a significant disparity in funds does suggest that institutions could be found non-compliant in other program areas.
3. Other Program Areas (Treatment of Athletes)The third compliance prong of Title IX requires equivalence in other athletic benefits and opportunities and includes all other program areas not previously covered (OCR, Policy). Title IX does not require that each men's and women's team receive exactly the same services and supplies, but it looks at the entirety of the treatment the men's and women's programs receive as a whole. The equivalence of overall treatment is measured on the basis of eleven criteria:
a) Locker Rooms, Practice, and Competitive Facilities looks at the quality, maintenance, and availability of the facilities provided for practice and competitive events, the exclusivity of use of the facilities and the preparation of facilities for games and practices, availability, exclusivity, and quality of locker and team rooms.
b) Equipment and Supplies is determined in examining the quality, amount, suitability, maintenance and replacement, and availability of equipment and supplies.
c) Scheduling of Games and Practice Times is based on the number of competitive events offered per sport, the number and length of practice opportunities, the time of day for practice sessions, the number of pre-season and post-season competitive opportunities, and the time of day competitive events are scheduled.
d) Publicity encompasses the availability and quality of sports information personnel, access to other publicity resources for men's and women's programs, and quantity and quality of publications and other promotional devices featuring men's and women's programs.
e) Coaching examines the equivalence in the availability of qualified full-time and part-time coaches, assistant coaches, and graduate assistants, assignment of coaches with comparable training, experience, and other professional qualifications, equitable compensation of coaches: rate of compensation, duration of contract, conditions for contract renewal; (taking into account experience, duties, and working conditions).
f) Travel and Daily Allowance encompasses modes of transportation, housing furnished during travel, length of stay before and after competitive events, daily allowance provided to the teams, and dinning arrangements for the teams.
g) Academic Tutoring includes the availability of tutoring for the women's and men's programs, qualifications, training and experience of tutors provided, employment conditions of the tutors for the men's and women's programs including compensation, term and length of contracts, and the number of students tutored per session.
h) Provision of Medical Training Facilities and Services includes the availability of medical personal and assistance including health, accident, and injury insurance coverage, availability and quality of weight training and conditioning facilities, and availability and qualifications of athletic trainers.
i) Provision of Housing and Dining Facilities and Service pertains to housing provided, and special services, such as laundry facilities, parking spaces, and housekeeping services.
j) Recruitment of Student Athletes refers to whether coaches and athletic personnel serving female and male athletes are provided with substantially equal opportunities to recruit, whether the financial and other resources made available for recruitment meet the needs of the women's and men's programs, whether the differences in benefits, opportunities, and treatment of prospective women and men athletes affect their recruitment.
k) Support Services includes the amount of administrative, secretarial, and clerical assistance provided to the women's and men's programs.
For more detailed information of the compliance criteria under Title IX, please see our
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