GAO

United States General Accounting Office

Report to the Ranking Minority Member,

Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug

Policy and Human Resources, Committee

on Government Reform, House of

Representatives

December 2000 GENDER EQUITY

Men’s and Women’s

Participation in Higher

Education

GAO-01-128

Page 1 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Contents

Letter 3

Appendixes Appendix I: Scope and Methodology 32

Appendix II: Federal Agencies With Title IX Enforcement

Responsibilities 35

Appendix III: Supplemental Information Concerning Title IX

and Higher Education 37

Appendix IV: Supplemental Information Concerning OCR Cases

Involving Intercollegiate Athletics 39

Appendix V: Comments From the Department of Education 43

Appendix VI: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments 49

Related GAO Products 50

Tables Table 1: Important Events and Cases Involving Title IX Issues 7

Table 2: Intercollegiate Athletics Program Expenditures Per

Male and Female Participant, NCAA Colleges and

Universities, School Year 1998-99 19

Table 3: Disposition of Postsecondary Title IX Complaints

With the Office for Civil Rights, Fiscal Years 1994

Through 1998 28

Table 4: Disposition of Title IX Postsecondary Compliance

Reviews, Fiscal Years 1994 Through 1998 30

Table 5: Percentage of Degrees Awarded to Women in

Predominantly Male Fields of Study, School Years

1971-72 and 1996-97 37

Table 6: Estimated Participation Rates in Intercollegiate

Sports at 4-Year Colleges and Universities, School

Years 1966-1967 to 1998-1999 38

Table 7: Top 10 Athletics Issues in the 139 Cases OCR Acted

On, Fiscal Years 1994 Through 1998 39

Figures Figure 1: Percentage of Degrees Awarded to Women in

Predominantly Male Fields of Study, School Years

1971-72 and 1996-97 11
Contents

Page 2 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Figure 2: Estimated Participation Rates in Intercollegiate

Sports at 4-Year Colleges and Universities, School Years

1971-72 to 1997-98 17

Figure 3: Means of Resolving Cases Involving the Three-Part Test,

Fiscal Years 1994 Through 1998 40

Abbreviations

EADA Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act

EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

GED general educational development

NAIA National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

NCAA National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCES National Center for Education Statistics

OCR Office for Civil Rights

SAT Scholastic Assessment Test
Page 3 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548 Leter

December 15, 2000

The Honorable Patsy Mink

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Criminal Justice,

Drug Policy and Human Resources

Committee on Government Reform

House of Representatives

Dear Congresswoman Mink:

Discrimination against women in areas such as college admissions,

intercollegiate athletics, and employment was widespread 40 years ago.

Although civil rights laws in the 1960s barred discrimination in

employment, similar protection was not available for students at colleges

and universities until the adoption of Title IX of the Education

Amendments of 1972.1 Title IX attempted to address inequities between

men and women by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in

education programs and activities receiving any federal financial

assistance, including federally backed student loans and research grants

and contracts. Women’s participation in higher education can present only

one facet of women’s status in our nation’s economy and society. In the

almost 30 years since title IX was enacted, women’s roles in American life

have changed greatly, and the effects of title IX on men and women

continue to be debated.

You asked us to review and report on what is known about title IX’s

contribution to changes in higher education. Specifically, you asked us to

(1) determine the extent to which women’s participation in higher

education academic programs has changed since title IX was enacted, (2)

determine the extent to which men’s and women’s participation in

intercollegiate athletics programs at 4-year schools has changed since title

IX was enacted, and (3) describe what is known about title IX’s effect on

men’s and women’s participation and, more specifically, about how federal

enforcement of the law has led to change.

1

20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688.
Page 4 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

To address these questions, we obtained information from the Department

of Education and the two largest athletics associations for 4-year colleges

and universities—the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and

the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). They provided

some similar information for a previous report.2 We also interviewed

representatives of organizations with expertise or interest in title IX and a

wide range of views on title IX policy. Our review focused on concerns

about gender equity among postsecondary students. As you requested, we

are also providing information on women’s participation as faculty

members and athletics directors and on intercollegiate athletic

expenditures. (See app. I for details concerning our methodology.) In

conducting our review, we relied on data obtained from Education, NCAA,

and NAIA, which, although unverified, are considered the best available

and are extensively used by the research community. Because recent

information on intercollegiate athletic expenditures was not available from

these sources at the time of our review, we also used data published by The

Chronicle of Higher Education and additional data available on its website.

Education plans to make such data available in the future. Our work was

done between November 1998 and September 2000 in accordance with

generally accepted government auditing standards.

Results in Brief Since title IX’s enactment in 1972, women’s participation in higher

education academic programs has increased significantly, whether

measured by the proportion of students enrolled in higher education who

are women, numbers of women enrolled, or the proportion of women who

have received degrees in certain fields of study in which men were the

predominant degree recipients.3 In 1950, about one-quarter of

undergraduate students were women. Women’s share of undergraduate

enrollment increased to 43 percent in 1971 and 56 percent in 1997. Women’s

participation in a number of predominantly male fields such as business,

law, and medicine has also increased greatly although changes in other

predominantly male fields, such as engineering and physical science, have

been smaller. In some predominantly female fields, including elementary

2

Intercollegiate Athletics: Comparison of Selected Characteristics of Men’s and Women’s

Programs (GAO/HEHS-99-3R, June 18, 1999).

3

We defined predominantly male fields of study as those in which, in school year 1971-72, (1)

women earned fewer than 25 percent of the degrees awarded and (2) at least 5,000 bachelor

or 1,000 first professional degrees were awarded. The 25 percent figure is based on the

Department of Labor’s definition of nontraditional occupations.
Page 5 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

education and nursing, there have been increases in the proportion of men

receiving degrees. In the 1995-96 school year, first-year college men and

women were about as likely to receive financial aid and received about the

same average amounts of grant and loan aid. Men continue to outnumber

women on faculties in predominantly male fields at colleges and

universities.

Women’s participation in intercollegiate sports at 4-year colleges and

universities has increased while men’s participation has dropped slightly,

although they still participate at a higher rate than do women. From title

IX’s enactment to the 1997-98 school year, the number of women in

intercollegiate sports grew from an estimated 30,000 (1.7 percent of fulltime enrolled undergraduate women) to 157,000 (5.5 percent of full-time

undergraduate women). Over the same period, the number of men

participating fell from about 248,000 (10.4 percent of full-time

undergraduate men) to about 234,000 (9.5 percent of full-time

undergraduate men). On average, in the 1998-99 school year, NCAA

member schools spent more per male intercollegiate sports participant

than female participant in recruiting, coaches’ salaries, and operations.

However, they spent more on athletic scholarships for women than for

men. Men continue to hold the majority of athletics director positions in

intercollegiate athletics.

Because various factors such as other civil rights laws and changing

societal attitudes have also contributed to changes in women’s roles, it is

difficult to isolate title IX’s specific effects. We found widespread

agreement, however, among representatives from the higher education

community and title IX observers, regardless of their perspective on

current title IX policy, that title IX has contributed to increased

opportunities and participation for women in the classroom and on the

playing field. There was no agreement, however, on whether the law has

contributed to the decline in the number of men involved in intercollegiate

sports. Although Education has not terminated its funding for any

postsecondary institution for a violation of title IX, federal enforcement has

had an effect through other means. Education’s Office for Civil Rights

(OCR), which has the lead enforcement responsibility for most title IX

issues, has instead enforced title IX through a variety of methods, including

complaint investigations, compliance reviews, and the issuance of policy

guidance. OCR’s approach to enforcement emphasizes collaboration and

negotiation, consistent with statutory requirements to attempt to secure

compliance by voluntary means. In addition, private lawsuits have played

an important role in title IX enforcement.
Page 6 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

We provided the Department of Education, NCAA, and NAIA drafts of this

report for comment, and they generally agreed with our findings.

Background With certain exceptions, title IX requires all educational institutions

receiving any form of federal financial assistance to prohibit sex

discrimination in academic, extracurricular, and other programs.4 Because

most postsecondary schools have students who receive federal financial

assistance, such as federal or federally backed student loans, title IX

applies to the large majority of 2-year and 4-year schools, both public and

private. Title IX’s provisions apply to all operations of college and

university programs, including admissions, instruction, financial aid,

intercollegiate athletics, housing, employment, and counseling.

As table 1 shows, application of title IX has evolved since it was enacted.

For example, in 1984, the Supreme Court held that title IX did not apply to

intercollegiate sports and other programs that did not directly receive

federal funding. In 1988, however, the Congress passed the Civil Rights

Restoration Act, which restored the earlier interpretation and broad

application of title IX. It provided that any program, including athletics

programs, offered by schools that receive or benefit from federal funding

must provide equal opportunities to men and women regardless of whether

the specific program benefits from federal funding.

4

Some schools receiving federal financial assistance are subject to some, but not all, of title

IX’s provisions. For example, schools with religious affiliations that have religious tenets

that conflict with title IX provisions may be granted an exemption from compliance with

those provisions. Also, certain single-sex undergraduate programs and military academies

are exempt from admissions and recruitment provisions of title IX.
Page 7 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Table 1: Important Events and Cases Involving Title IX Issues

a

20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688.

b

Originally enacted as section 408 of P.L. 93-380; current provisions of the Women’s Educational

Equity Act can be found at 20 U.S.C. §§ 7231-7238.

c

45 C.F.R. Part 86, currently found at 34 C.F.R. Part 106.

d

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972: A Policy Interpretation; Title IX and Intercollegiate

Athletics, 44 Fed. Reg. 71413 (Dec. 11, 1979). For details concerning the three-part test, see app. IV.

e

441 U.S. 677 (1979).

f

465 U.S. 555 (1984).

Year Event/Case Importance

1972 Title IX enacteda First federal law specifically prohibiting sex discrimination at educational

institutions receiving federal financial assistance.

1974 Women’s Educational Equity Act

enactedb

Provided for educational equity for women at all levels of education through grants

and contracts for curricula, textbooks, training, research, counseling, and other

educational efforts.

1975 Title IX regulations finalizedc Responded to nearly 10,000 public comments, most concerning athletics.

1979 OCR policy interpretation

concerning intercollegiate sportsd

Established standards for assessing compliance with requirements concerning

intercollegiate sports, including athletic scholarships, other benefits and services,

and a three-part test concerning participation opportunities.

1979 Cannon v. University of Chicagoe Held that private parties may file suit in title IX cases.

1984 Grove City College v. Bellf Held that title IX applied only to programs that directly receive or benefit from

federal financial assistance. Thus, other programs, such as intercollegiate sports

programs that do not receive federal funds are not subject to these laws.

1987 Civil Rights Restoration Act of

1987g

Restored institution-wide jurisdiction for applying civil rights laws, superceding the

Grove City College v. Bell decision.

1990 OCR title IX athletics investigator’s

manualh

Provided detailed guidance for investigators evaluating compliance with title IX in

intercollegiate and interscholastic sports, including criteria concerning

participation, scholarships, facilities, coaching, and scheduling.

1992 Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public

Schoolsi

Held that monetary damages are available to plaintiffs in private title IX actions.

1994 Equity in Athletics Disclosure Actj Facilitated assessment of gender equity in schools’ intercollegiate athletics

programs by requiring schools to report participation and resources for men’s and

women’s sports programs.

1996 Cohen v. Brown Universityk Upheld standards established in OCR’s 1979 three-part test for assessing

compliance with requirements concerning intercollegiate athletics participation

opportunities.

1996 OCR clarification of intercollegiate

athletics policy guidancel

Provided additional explanation and examples concerning OCR’s test to determine

whether schools have achieved equal opportunity in intercollegiate athletics

participation.

1997 OCR sexual harassment policy

guidancem

Provided policy guidance on title IX prohibitions against sexual harassment in

schools.

1998 OCR “Dear Colleague” letter

regarding athletic scholarshipsn

Clarified policy guidance on substantial proportionality in athletic scholarships.
Page 8 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

g

20 U.S.C. § 1687.

h

Department of Education, OCR, Title IX Athletics Investigator’s Manual, 1990. In conducting

investigations, OCR has used this and a previous manual issued in 1980. These manuals have been

clarified by more recent policy guidance.

i

503 U.S. 60 (1992).

j

20 U.S.C. § 1092(g).

k

809 F. Supp. 978 (D.R.I. 1992)(Cohen I); 991 F.2d 888 (1st Cir. 1993)(Cohen II); 879 F. Supp. 185

(D.R.I. 1995)(Cohen III); 101 F.3d 155 (1st Cir. 1996)(Cohen IV).

l

Department of Education, OCR, “Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance: The ThreePart Test” (Jan. 16, 1996).

mDepartment of Education, OCR, “Sexual Harassment Guidance: Harassment of Students by School

Employees, Other Students, or Third Parties,” 52 Fed. Reg. 12034 (Mar. 13, 1997). On Nov. 2, 2000,

OCR published in the Federal Register for a 30-day comment period “Revised Sexual Harassment

Guidance: Harassment of Students by School Employees, Other Students, or Third Parties.” This

revises OCR guidance in light of recent Supreme Court cases relating to sexual harassment in

schools. See Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274 (1998), and Davis v.

Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 626 (1999).

n

July 23, 1998.

Because many federal agencies fund education activities covered by title

IX, they are potentially involved in enforcement activities. (For a list of

agencies, see app. II.) Two agencies have major roles: the Department of

Justice, which coordinates civil rights enforcement efforts, and Education’s

OCR, which investigates most types of complaints and allegations. The

Department of Justice coordinates the development of federal agencies’

title IX regulations, coordinates arrangements for referrals of cases

between agencies, and represents federal agencies in title IX court

proceedings, as needed. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(EEOC) also investigates individual complaints of employment

discrimination, including those under title IX if OCR refers them to EEOC,

and those filed against recipients of federal financial assistance that are

subject to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.5 OCR investigates

employment discrimination cases that involve allegations of “systemic” or

patterns and practices of employment discrimination and those that allege

both employment discrimination and discrimination in federal aid

recipients’ other operations.6 Individuals or groups also have the option of

filing suit in federal court or filing a complaint through the institution’s

grievance procedure. They may do so independent of any administrative

action, such as a complaint investigation, by OCR or any other agency.

5

These investigations are conducted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

6

Attorney General Order No. 992-83, 28 C.F.R. part 42 (1982); 29 C.F.R. part 1691 (1984).
Page 9 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Education’s Office of Student Financial Assistance has responsibility for

enforcing another gender-equity law, the Equity in Athletics Disclosure

Act.7 Under this act, coeducational colleges offering intercollegiate

athletics and participating in federal student financial aid programs, such

as Pell grants and federal student loan programs, must disclose certain

information by gender, such as the number of varsity teams, the number of

participants on each team, the amount of operating expenses, and coaches’

salaries. Colleges must make these reports available to students, potential

students, the public, and Education.

Women’s Participation

Has Increased in

Academic Programs in

Higher Education

Although women were a minority in higher education before title IX was

enacted, women students now substantially outnumber men. In 1997,

colleges and universities enrolled 1.5 million more women undergraduates

than men undergraduates. Women’s participation has increased in many

fields of study that were predominantly male in the 1971-72 school year,

including law and medicine. In other fields, such as engineering and

computer and information science, men remain a sizeable majority even

though the gap has narrowed. However, women still comprise a small share

of faculty in fields that have been predominantly male. Men’s participation

in predominantly female fields, such as nursing and elementary education,

has also increased, although women remain the overwhelming majority in

these fields. Financial aid is generally provided to women and men equally

when similar college costs and financial means are considered.

7

20 U.S.C. § 1092(g).
Page 10 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Women’s Enrollment

Exceeds That of Men

Since title IX’s enactment in 1972, both men and women have participated

in higher education programs in greater numbers, with a marked increase

for women. From fall 1971 to fall 1997, the number of women enrolled in

the nation’s colleges and universities more than doubled, from about 3.7

million to 8.2 million.8 The number of men enrolled increased by about onequarter, from about 5.2 million to about 6.5 million. In 1971, a little more

than one-half of high school graduates were women, yet women comprised

only 43 percent of college undergraduate enrollment. By 1997, the numbers

of men and women graduating from high school were about the same, but

women represented 56 percent of undergraduates. The Department of

Education projects that women’s proportion of enrollment will continue to

increase to about 58 percent of total enrollment by 2009. According to

researchers, fewer men than women attend college in part because men, in

the years after high school, are attracted to job opportunities that on

average pay more than those available to young women. For example,

among students from the high school class of 1992, who received a high

school diploma or general educational development (GED) credential and

did not attend postsecondary institutions in 1993, women who worked

earned an average of 64 percent of the amount men did. In addition, many

more men than women enter the armed forces.

Degrees Awarded to Women

in Predominantly Male

Fields Have Increased but

Extent Varies

Since the 1971-72 school year, the percentage of women who have received

degrees in some predominantly male fields of study has increased

significantly (see fig. 1). For example, in school year 1971-72, women

received only 1 percent of all dentistry degrees, compared with 37 percent

in 1996-97. Women’s share of business degrees also increased greatly during

this period, from 10 percent to 49 percent.

While women comprise a smaller percentage of baccalaureate degree

recipients in such predominantly male fields as engineering, physical

science, and computer science, women’s share of degrees in these fields

has also increased significantly since 1971. For example, women’s share of

engineering degrees in the 1996-97 school year was 17 percentup from 1

percent in school year 1971-72. In addition, the percentage of women

receiving degrees in the physical and computer sciences at least doubled

8

This includes undergraduate, graduate, and first professional students at all higher

education institutions, including 4-year, 2-year, and less than 2-year colleges and

universities. This excludes institutions that offer only vocational and continuing education

programs.
Page 11 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

over the same period, from 15 percent to 37 percent and 14 percent to 27

percent, respectively.

Figure 1: Percentage of Degrees Awarded to Women in Predominantly Male Fields of Study, School Years 1971-72 and 1996-97

Note: Data shown are for first professional degrees for law, medicine, and dentistry and for bachelor

degrees in the other fields of study. For data supporting this figure, see table 5 in app. III.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Computer Engineering

Science

Physical

Science

Political Law Medicine Dentistry

Science

Zoology Business

22

50

10

49

19

44

7

44

9

41

1

37

15

37

14

27

1

17

Percentage

1971-72

1996-97
Page 12 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Several factors contribute to the continued predominance of men in certain

fields. For example, an Education study on engineering, a field that has

historically seen a low level of participation by women, showed that

women and men following an engineering path in college came equally

prepared with a math and science background.9 However, there was a 20-

percent gap between men’s and women’s completion rates. According to

the study, women who left engineering did not leave because of poor

academic performance, although they expressed a higher level of academic

dissatisfaction than men who left the field. The study suggested that

women’s underrepresentation was due, in part, to their lower level of

interest in engineering, their discomfort in a peer environment where they

are a minority, and the perception that engineering is a male occupation.

Several other studies had similar findings regarding women in the physical

sciences such as physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geology. Recent

studies provide insight into the role that precollege preparation, selfconfidence, work and family, availability of role models, peer support, and

teaching methods play in women’s participation in science, math, and

engineering.10 According to these studies, in grade 12, high school girls took

fewer courses in science, scored slightly lower on standardized science

exams, were more likely to have negative attitudes toward science, and

were less likely to declare science as a college major, as compared with

high school boys. At the undergraduate and graduate levels, factors that

deterred women from preparing for a career in science included peer

pressure, neglect or hostility from predominantly male peers and faculty,

lack of mentors, insufficient financial support, and the reluctance of some

faculty to establish an advisory relationship with individual students.

9

Department of Education and the National Institute for Science Education, Women and

Men of the Engineering Path: A Model for Analyses of Undergraduate Careers (May 1998).

10Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Findings From

the Condition of Education, 1997: Women in Mathematics and Science, NCES 97-982 (1997);

Sandra L. Hanson, Lost Talent: Women in the Sciences (Philadelphia, Penn.: Temple

University Press, 1996); Gerhard Sonnert, Who Succeeds in Science? The Gender Dimension

(New Brunswick, Mass.: Rutgers University Press, 1995); and Eileen M. Byrne, Women and

Science: The Snark Syndrome (The Falmer Press, 1993).
Page 13 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

While studies have found that differences between men and women in

math and science achievement test scores have decreased over the years,

men continue to outscore women in these disciplines. In some cases, the

differences were quite small. For example, among 12th graders who took

the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress test, average math

scores for men and women were 305 and 303, respectively; the average

science scores were 152 and 148. In other cases, the differences were

larger. For example, the National Science Foundation’s 1999 study shows

that 1996 Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) math scores for men averaged

527 (from 520 in 1991), while SAT math scores for women averaged 492

(from 482 in 1991).11

Research has also identified differences between men’s and women’s

interests in the physical sciences. Surveys of freshmen women, for

example, indicate that, while a growing proportion plan to major in the

physical sciences, women are still outnumbered by men.12 Specifically, the

percentage of freshmen women planning to major in the physical sciences

increased from 0.8 percent in 1971 to 1.6 percent in 1998. While the

percentage of freshmen men declined from 3.1 percent to 2.6 percent

during the same period, a significantly greater number of men than women

showed interest in these subjects.

Women comprised a smaller percentage of doctoral degree recipients than

baccalaureate recipients in predominantly male fields. In the 1996-97

school year, for example, women earned 29 percent of all doctoral degrees

in business, 23 percent in physical science and science technologies, 16

percent in computer science, and 12 percent in engineering and

engineering-related technologies.

Similarly, a smaller percentage of full-time faculty members in these fields

were women. In fall 1992, the latest year for which data were available,

women comprised 31 percent of business faculty, 17 percent of political

science faculty, 36 percent of law faculty, 12 percent of physical sciences

11National Science Foundation, Women, Minorities, and Persons With Disabilities in Science

and Engineering: 1988, NSF 99-87 (Feb. 1999). The study also reported that men consistently

outscored women in the verbal components of college entrance exams, such as the SAT, in

1991 and 1996, but these differences were narrower. For women, the average verbal score

increased from 495 to 503; for men, it increased from 503 to 507.

12Alexander Astin, et al., The American Freshman: Thirty Year Trends (Los Angeles, Calif.:

University of California, Los Angeles, 1997), and The American Freshman: National Norms

for Fall 1998 (Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California, Los Angeles, 1998).
Page 14 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

faculty, 20 percent of computer science faculty, and 6 percent of

engineering faculty. For the 1996-97 school year, 24 percent of full-time

tenured faculty at all 4-year schools in all fields of study were women.

More Men Earned Degrees

in Predominantly Female

Fields, yet Men Remain a

Small Minority

Women are still the predominant degree recipients in fields such as

nursing, elementary education, and home economics, even though men’s

share of these degrees has risen slightly since 1971. For example, between

school years 1971-72 and 1996-97, men’s share of degrees increased from 3

percent to 11 percent in nursing, 9 percent to 12 percent in elementary

education, and 4 percent to 12 percent in home economics. In contrast,

men’s share of degrees in special education declined from 13 percent to 11

percent. Overall, women received a somewhat smaller proportion of

degrees in these predominantly female fields in 1996-97 compared with

1971-72, yet nearly 9 out of 10 of the degrees in these fields in school year

1996-97 were awarded to women.

Little Difference in Student

Financial Aid by Gender

Exists After Considering

Financial Need and Costs of

Attendance

In school year 1972-73, full-time first-year college women received lower

average amounts of scholarships and grants than men did. Typically,

women relied more on the support of family, friends, and loans, while men

had more savings and earnings from employment. In contrast, in 1995-96,

first-year college women and men were about equally as likely to receive

aid and received about the same average amounts of grant and loan aid.13

Men’s and women’s financial need did not vary to a statistically significant

extent. Women were, however, more likely than men to have dependents

other than spouses. Men were more likely to receive veterans’ aid and

athletic scholarships.

13We excluded noncitizens who were not eligible for aid under federal student aid programs.

Among all undergraduates (except for the same noncitizens), men were more likely to

receive loans and women were more likely to receive grants. These differences were

generally not statistically significant when we compared men and women with similar

financial means and costs of attendance. The Department of Education assesses each

student’s financial means using a formula for an expected family contribution. This formula

takes into account such factors as income, assets, dependents, marital status, and the

number of family members enrolled in eligible higher education programs (20 U.S.C. §

1087kk).
Page 15 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

As the number of women in postsecondary education has increased since

the enactment of title IX, so has the amount of financial aid they have

received. In the 1972-73 school year, full-time freshmen women from the

previous year’s high school graduating class (1971-72) received an average

of $1,541 ($899 in grants and $642 in loans in constant 1995-96 dollars).14

Full-time college freshmen women from the high school graduating class of

1995 who attended postsecondary institutions during the 1995-96 school

year received an average of $3,535 ($2,392 in grants and $1,143 in loans).

The average amount of aid rose 129 percent after adjusting for inflation. By

comparison, full-time freshmen men from the same high school classes

who attended postsecondary institutions during the next school year

received an estimated average of $1,456 ($937 in grants and $519 in loans in

1995-96 dollars) in 1972-73 and $3,027 ($1,952 in grants and $1,075 in loans)

in 1995-96. The estimated average amount of aid for men rose 108 percent

after adjusting for inflation.

Men’s Participation in

Intercollegiate

Athletics Is Greater

Than Women’s, but the

Difference Has

Narrowed

The proportion of college women who participate in intercollegiate sports

at 4-year colleges and universities has increased. From title IX’s enactment

to the 1997-98 school year, the number of women in intercollegiate sports

at NCAA (Division I, II, III) and NAIA member schools grew from an

estimated 30,000, or 1.7 percent of full-time enrolled undergraduate

women, to 157,000, or 5.5 percent of full-time undergraduate women. Over

the same period, the number of men participating fell from about 248,000

(10.4 percent) of full-time undergraduate men to about 234,000 (9.5

percent) of full-time undergraduate men. The increase for women was

rapid through the mid-1980s, then more gradual. The number of men

participating varied, with the lowest participation rate reported in 1981.

Despite different trends for men and women, male participants continue to

outnumber female participants in intercollegiate sports. Approximately

77,000 more men than women participated in 1997-98.15

14These averages cover students who received aid and those who did not. We adjusted these

figures for inflation using the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for all urban

consumers. While we recognize that this index has limitations, we chose to use it to adjust

for inflation because we concluded that it was the best available index for this purpose. See,

for example, Consumer Price Index: More Frequent Updating of Market Basket Expenditure

Weights Is Needed (GAO/GGD/OCE-98-2, Oct. 9, 1997).

15From 1997-98 to 1998-99, the number of participants on men’s teams increased to about

237,000 and the number on women’s teams increased to about 167,000. Comparable fall 1998

enrollment data were not available to calculate changes in participation rates.
Page 16 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Unlike marked trends in the number of women athletes, the estimated

athletics participation rateintercollegiate athletics participants as a

percentage of all full-time undergraduate students at 4-year colleges and

universitieshas remained fairly steady for both genders since the mid1980s.16 In the first decade or so after title IX came into effect, women’s

participation rates increased rapidly while men’s participation rates

declined. Since the mid-1980s, the number of women participating and the

number of women’s teams have continued to rise, but not much faster than

the increase in the number of full-time female undergraduates enrolled at 4-

year schools. Despite these increases for women, men’s participation rate

at 4-year schools was still higher than women’s in the 1997-98 school year,

as shown in figure 2.

16We calculated the two estimated participation rates—one for men and one for women—by

dividing the number of male or female intercollegiate sports participants reported by NCAA

and NAIA by the number of full-time male or female undergraduates at all 4-year schools in

the fall. The total number of intercollegiate sports participants may exceed the number of

athletes in intercollegiate sports programs because some athletes participate in more than

one sport and are counted more than once in NCAA and NAIA participation statistics. See

app. I for notes concerning the limitations of these data.
Page 17 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Figure 2: Estimated Participation Rates in Intercollegiate Sports at 4-Year Colleges and Universities, School Years 1971-72 to

1997-98

Note: Estimates are of intercollegiate sports participantsNCAA Divisions I, II, and III, plus NAIAas

a percentage of full-time undergraduates. Annual estimates of athletics participation were available

beginning in 1981. In previous years, NCAA did not compile data annually but did so at 5-year

intervals. Fall enrollment data for full-time undergraduates at 4-year schools by gender were not

available for 1982 through 1984. For data supporting this figure, see table 6 in app. III.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1971-72

1976-77

1981-82

1985-86

1986-87

1987-88 1988-89 1989-90

1990-91

1991-92 1992-93 1993-94

1994-95 1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

Percentage

Men

Women
Page 18 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Women’s athletics programs typically have lower expenditures than men’s

programs, and in many cases they have lower expenditures per participant.

However, it is difficult to analyze universities’ and colleges’ spending on

athletics by gender since title IX’s enactment because complete and

comparable data are not available for several years after its enactment. The

Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) will facilitate analysis of such

spending in the future. The act requires schools to prepare reports on

athletics participation and expenditures and make them readily available

beginning October 1996, but Education was not required to compile such

reports until the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. To implement

these provisions, in November 1999, Education published rules for the

collection of data concerning each school’s athletics participation and

expenditures. Such data should provide a basis for analyzing future trends

in schools’ revenue and expenses for men’s and women’s intercollegiate

sports programs.

In the 1998-99 school year, NCAA coeducational schools spent more per

male than female intercollegiate sports participant on recruitment,

coaches’ salaries, and operations. However, the average expenditure per

participant for athletics-related financial aid (scholarships) was higher for

women than for men.17 There were also differences by division as shown in

table 2. For example, NCAA Division I-A schools (colleges and universities

that typically offer the greatest number of athletic scholarships and have

large football programs) spent more per male participant than female

participant in each of four expenditure categories. Specifically, recruiting

and operating expenditures at Division I-A schools were about 70 percent

higher for male than for female participants. In contrast, the average

expenditures per participant for schools in Divisions I-AA, I-AAA, II, and III

differed much less by gender. Some differences, particularly in Division I-A,

may in part reflect the greater noninstitutional revenue typically generated

by men’s sports programs. In 1997-98, according to NCAA’s gender-equity

study, the 91 Division I-A schools responding to NCAA’s survey indicated an

17The Chronicle of Higher Education collected 1998-99 EADA reports from 858 of the 959

active, coeducational NCAA member schoolsa response rate of 89 percent. These data

include only expenditures allocated to either men’s or women’s intercollegiate sports

programs. Expenditures for coed sports are allocated to the men’s and women’s programs

based on the percentage of male and female participants. Expenditure categories include

recruiting, athletically related financial aid, coaches’ salaries, and operating expenses

(lodging, meals, transportation, officials and uniforms, and equipment for both home and

away contests). They do not include general expenditures that were not allocated to either

gender. They also do not include debt service and replacement of facilities. Division III

schools do not award athletic scholarships.
Page 19 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

average of $11.8 million in revenue attributable to men’s sports and $1.1

million in revenue attributable to women’s sports.18

Table 2: Intercollegiate Athletics Program Expenditures Per Male and Female Participant, NCAA Colleges and Universities,

School Year 1998-99

Note: These calculations were based on The Chronicle of Higher Education’s compilation of data from

coeducational active NCAA members. Participants in intercollegiate athletics represent the sum of the

number of intercollegiate (undergraduate) athletes on each team at each school. Some athletes

participate on more than one team and are counted more than once in these data.

a

These calculations are based on data from 815 of the 959 NCAA members. We excluded institutions

that did not provide information concerning numbers of participants or recruiting expenditures. We

included institutions that indicated they did not have any recruiting expenditures.

b

These calculations are based on data from 532 of the 596 members of NCAA Divisions I and II. We

excluded institutions that did not provide data concerning numbers of participants or scholarships. We

included institutions that indicated they did not provide any scholarships. Because an individual is

eligible for only one athletic scholarship even if he or she participates in more than one sport, analysts

often compare scholarships per athlete rather than per participant. This comparison adjusts for

athletes participating on more than one team because it is based on an unduplicated count of athletes.

Based on this adjustment, the 532 schools reported spending $4,458 in scholarships per male athlete

and $4,861 per female athlete.

c

These calculations are based on data from 853 NCAA members. We excluded institutions that did not

provide information concerning coaches’ salaries or numbers of participants.

dThese calculations are based on data from 856 NCAA members. We excluded institutions that did not

provide information concerning “game day” operating expensesexpenses attributed to home, away,

and neutral site contestsor numbers of participants.

e

NCAA Division III schools are excluded from these calculations because they do not award athletic

scholarships.

18NCAA, 1997-98 NCAA Gender-Equity Study (Indianapolis, Ind., NCAA, Oct. 1999). Revenue

generated by athletics programs is not a consideration in determining whether equal

athletics opportunities are available to both men and women. A school has the

responsibility to ensure that its men’s and women’s athletics programs provide equitable

services. To do so, it must ensure that appropriate funds are expended for both men’s and

women’s programs without regard to their ability to generate revenue.

Recruitinga Scholarshipsb Coaches’ salariesc Operations (“Game Day”)d

Division/

Subdivision Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women

I-A $987 $579 $6,404 $5,815 $5,136 $3,393 $28,848 $17,111

I-AA 375 256 4,151 4,454 2,356 1,920 9,572 8,415

I-AAA 382 300 4,768 5,634 2,698 2,304 12,014 11,247

II 113 100 2,278 2,421 1,430 1,422 5,262 5,293

III 64 46 e e 852 874 1,822 1,787

Weighted average $347 $229 $4,269 $4,418 $2,212 $1,785 $9,944 $7,467
Page 20 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Men continue to hold the majority of top positions in intercollegiate

athletics. We found only one female athletics director among the 259 NCAA

Division I schools responding to our survey for school year 1990-91.19 More

recently, however, private researchers who surveyed NCAA member

schools in school year 1997-98 found increased numbers of female athletics

directors who are responsible for administering both men’s and women’s

athletics programs. Nevertheless, women were still the minority. These

researchers identified 23 women in such positions at responding schools in

NCAA Division I, 41 in Division II, and 102 in Division III.20 In addition, we

identified 6 women athletics directors at the 114 NCAA schools sponsoring

Division I-A football, as of October 1999.

Title IX and Federal

Enforcement Have

Contributed to Greater

Gender Equity in

Higher Education

We found widespread agreement among those we interviewed that title IX

has increased women’s participation in both academics and intercollegiate

athletics even though the law’s effect cannot be isolated from the effects of

other legal and social changes that have aimed to increase gender equity.

There is also widespread agreement that enforcement efforts led by

Education’s OCR have played a role in title IX’s effect on women’s

increasing participation in higher education programs. These efforts have

included developing policy guidance, providing technical assistance to

schools and associations, investigating and resolving complaints,

conducting compliance reviews, and working with the Department of

Justice to file friend-of-the-court briefs in significant title IX litigation.

OCR’s enforcement efforts emphasize collaboration and negotiation.

Extent of Title IX’s Effect

Cannot Be Assessed

Without Taking Other

Factors Into Account

Education and athletics officials, researchers, and legal expertsboth

critics and supporters of title IX policytold us they believe that title IX

has had a significant and favorable effect on women’s participation in

postsecondary education because it has eliminated many explicit barriers

to opportunities in higher education for women. More specifically, they

19Intercollegiate Athletics: Compensation Varies for Selected Personnel in Athletic

Departments (GAO/HRD-92-121, Aug. 19, 1992).

20Vivian Acosta and Linda Jean Carpenter, “Women in Intercollegiate Sport: A Longitudinal

Study—Twenty-One Year Update, 1977-1998” (1998). This study was based on a survey

administered to all schools that were active members of NCAA in school year 1997-98 and

that had a women’s athletics program. The researchers received completed surveys from

234 of 308 Division I schools, 196 of 261 Division II schools, and 280 of 363 Division III

schools.
Page 21 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

said discriminatory practices such as quota systems limiting the number of

women admitted to graduate and public undergraduate programs and

higher admissions standards for women than for men largely disappeared

with title IX’s passage.21 Among the examples cited of pre-title IX

discrimination in admissions were the following:

• A prominent public university restricted women to no more than 45

percent of its undergraduate population annually.

• An Ivy League university’s school of veterinary medicine admitted two

women per year.

• An agriculture college required women’s SAT scores to be 30 to 40 points

higher than men’s to gain admission.

• A prominent private university’s school of nursing did not permit

married women to be students.

In addition, title IX allowed women to participate in various academic and

athletics programs and activities that were previously available only to

men.

Those we spoke with noted, however, that women’s increased participation

was a trend that began before title IX’s passage. For example, the

percentage of female undergraduates increased before enactment of title

IX from about one-quarter of undergraduate students in 1950 to 43 percent

in 1971. This suggests that other laws, together with changing social views,

likely played a role in shaping the trends we observed. For example, the

Equal Pay Act establishing equal pay for men and women was enacted in

1963, and legislation barring sex discrimination in employment was

enacted in 1964. Such efforts to bring about more equitable treatment of

women in the workplace may have encouraged women to enroll in

postsecondary schools and to participate in predominantly male fields of

study at colleges and universities. The women’s movement and other social

trends also contributed to changing attitudes about women’s roles. Finally,

changes in federal student financial aid policy in the early 1970s gave more

middle-class students, men and women alike, greater access to higher

education, resulting in higher enrollment levels for both genders.

21In a 1971 hearing before a House Committee, the Director of the Department of Health,

Education and Welfare’s OCR stated that university officials candidly told the office that, in

many cases, they had higher standards, such as higher grade point average requirements, for

women than for men.
Page 22 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

While those we interviewed also agreed that title IX has had the effect of

increasing women’s participation in intercollegiate sports, their views

varied about title IX’s effects on men’s sports. According to OCR officials, it

is a misperception that title IX is responsible for declines in the number of

men’s sports opportunities. OCR guidance does not require cutting men’s

teams. Schools choose their own methods for complying with title IX, and

none of the OCR options for compliance necessitate cuts in men’s athletic

programs. Nonetheless, some said title IX has had a substantial detrimental

effect on men’s sports, citing as evidence that some schools eliminated

men’s intercollegiate sports teams to add women’s teams. Their view is that

schools are in effect compelled to cut men’s teams in light of decreasing

athletics budgets and the threat of a title IX investigation or lawsuit. Others

disagreed, saying that the law itself has not significantly harmed men’s

opportunities and that decreases in some men’s sports teams are caused, in

part, by declining interest in those sports. They said schools can achieve

compliance without cutting men’s sports teams by transferring resources

from more expensive men’s programs to financially vulnerable men’s and

women’s programs.

As with participation trends in academics, factors other than title IX may

also have influenced participation in intercollegiate sports. For example,

from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, just before title IX was enacted,

men’s annual participation rates in intercollegiate sports declined and

women’s participation rose.22 Changing social and cultural attitudes appear

to have contributed to women’s increased interest and participation in

athletics before title IX was passed.

22Even though the number of male sports participants rose during this period from an

estimated 227,000 to 248,000, the number of full-time male undergraduates rose at a faster

rate. As a result, the estimated participation rate fell from 11.9 to 10.4 percent between the

1966-67 and 1971-72 school years. During the same period, the estimated number of female

intercollegiate participants increased from about 15,000 to about 30,000, and the

participation rate rose from 1.1 percent to 1.7 percent.
Page 23 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Although one study asked a limited number of respondents to identify the

factors that led to gains in women’s participation, we did not find any

studies that directly assessed the effect of title IX apart from other factors,

such as similar state laws.23 According to the researchers we contacted,

there is no reliable method for separating title IX’s effect from the effect of

other factors.

Federal Enforcement Has

Contributed to Title IX’s

Effect

We found widespread agreement among the officials, observers, and

experts we spoke with that efforts to enforce title IX have contributed to

the law’s effect on women’s participation in academics and in

intercollegiate athletics. Although Education had not used its most severe

legal sanctions to enforce compliance with title IX at colleges and

universitiesfunding termination or referral to the Department of Justice

for enforcement by federal courtsit has facilitated change by using

enforcement means short of these measures. These measures include

issuing letters of violation and, in the absence of formal findings of

violations, obtaining voluntary resolution agreements to address concerns

OCR has identified.24 The legal experts we interviewed said OCR’s other

enforcement efforts, along with court cases filed against schools by private

parties, have been important in establishing accountability and deterring

noncompliance. They and others added that most title IX disputes do not

involve either OCR or the courts because schools frequently resolve title IX

complaints through internal campus grievance procedures required by

regulations implementing title IX.

23The study was based on a telephone survey administered in 1986 to 61 selected

respondents in 12 states with state title IX laws, including state title IX coordinators,

vocational education gender equity coordinators, and legislators. More than one-third of the

61 respondents identified the federal law as the cause for gains in women’s participation

even though most respondents considered their state law to be stronger than the federal

law. Most other respondents cited a combination of factors, including the federal law. (See

Phyllis W. Cheng, “The New Federalism and Women’s Educational Equity: How the States

Respond,” paper presented at the Association of American Geographers 1988 Annual

Meeting; Phoenix, Ariz.; Apr. 7, 1988.)

24OCR’s data system for cases resolved from fiscal years 1982 through 1993 indicates that the

Department initiated administrative procedures that could have led to a suspension of

federal funding in cases where OCR found that school districts had violated title IX and in

cases where OCR found that colleges and school districts had violated other discrimination

laws. Since fiscal year 1994, according to OCR officials, OCR has issued four Notices of

Opportunity for Hearing, a step in the process to terminate a school’s funding; none of these

concerned title IX issues. Also, since fiscal year 1994, OCR referred 21 cases to the

Department of Justice, none of which concerned title IX. Eighteen of these involved a single

event and allegations of racial discrimination.
Page 24 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

OCR’s most severe enforcement tool is its ability to recommend that

Education undertake a termination process by which a school can be

prohibited from receiving federal funding, including participation in federal

student loan programs. OCR can also refer cases to the Department of

Justice for prosecution. Since title IX was enacted, however, Education has

neither suspended nor terminated a college’s or university’s federal

funding, nor has OCR referred to the Department of Justice a case against a

postsecondary institution for a title IX violation. The decision not to use

these sanctions has been criticized by some and lauded by others. Some

individuals we interviewed said that OCR’s enforcement has not been

aggressive enough and that OCR has gone to great lengths to work out

compromises rather than refer a case to the Department of Justice for

prosecution. However, title IX requires that OCR seek voluntary resolution

of violations before terminating a school’s funding. According to OCR

officials, when the agency finds violations, it has been able to minimize

confrontation and reduce the harm that would be caused by loss of federal

funds by obtaining voluntary compliance. It ensures that voluntary

compliance agreements, in fact, remedy violations by monitoring

implementation of the agreements. Enforcement efforts also include

issuing regulations and policy guidance, communicating the requirements

of title IX, resolving complaints, and conducting compliance reviews.

OCR’s Policy Guidance

Emphasizes Athletics and Other

Issues

Although OCR has developed regulations and provided guidance on a

broad range of title IX issues, intercollegiate and interscholastic athletics

have received considerable attention over the years.25 Examples of OCR’s

development and communication of athletics policies include such

documents as a 1979 policy interpretation that introduced the three-part

test26 that OCR uses to assess equity in opportunities for athletics

participation; a 1990 athletics investigator’s manual; a clarification of its

intercollegiate athletics policy guidance in 1996; and a clarification of its

25OCR’s athletics policies are designed for intercollegiate athletics, but the general principles

often apply to club, intramural, and interscholastic athletics programs, which are also

covered by the regulations.

26Under the three-part test, intercollegiate athletics programs may establish compliance with

title IX by meeting any one of the following criteria: (1) the number of male and female

participants is substantially proportionate to their full-time undergraduate enrollments, or

(2) the school has a history and continuing practice of expanding the program for the

underrepresented gender (usually women’s programs), or (3) the school is fully and

effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented gender in

intercollegiate sports. See app. IV for details.
Page 25 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

policy on athletic scholarships in July 1998. OCR also appointed a national

coordinator for title IX athletics in 1994.

When individuals have brought lawsuits, court rulings have generally

upheld the policy guidance that OCR has developed. For example,

members of Brown University’s intercollegiate women’s gymnastics and

volleyball teams sued the university after it eliminated funding for and

reduced the status of the teams.27 They argued that the university had failed

to comply with regulations concerning men’s and women’s opportunities

for participation in intercollegiate athletics as interpreted by the

Department’s three-part test. Brown University challenged the three-part

test and argued that it had complied with the regulations requiring that the

university be equally effective in meeting the interests and abilities of men

and women undergraduates in intercollegiate sports. Through a series of

four separate decisions, each of the three parts of OCR’s three-part

compliance test was considered. In the third decision, the trial judge

discussed all three parts, upholding the validity of the OCR compliance test

as it was used to enforce title IX.28

OCR has developed title IX policy guidance to address sexual harassment

and sex discrimination in a number of other areas, including the

assignment of pregnant and parenting students; health insurance coverage

for pregnancy; preadmission inquiries into marital and parental status;

religious exemptions; hiring and assignment of teachers by gender,

vocational, and educational opportunities; and graduate and professional

school admissions. OCR has also provided information and guidance in

other areas with several publications covering title IX in general and others

focused on specific concerns. Title IX: 25 Years of Progress discusses

women’s progress since title IX was enacted but also helps communicate

title IX requirements. Similarly, OCR documents, including Title IX

Grievance Procedures: An Introductory Manual, Title IX and Sex

Discrimination, and Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Federally

27Cohen v. Brown University, 809 F. Supp. 978 (D.R.I. 1992)(Cohen I); 991 F.2d 888 (1st Cir.

1993)(Cohen II); 879 F. Supp. 185 (D.R.I. 1995)(Cohen III); 101 F.3d 155 (1st Cir. 1996)(Cohen

IV).

28This third decision is generally identified as Cohen III, 879 F. Supp. (D.R.I. 1995). For other

cases, see Boucher v. Syracuse University, 164 F.3d 113 (2d Cir. 1999); Roberts v. Colorado

State Board of Agriculture, 998 F.2d 824 (10th Cir. 1993); Kelley v. Board of Trustees of the

University of Illinois, 35 F.3d 265 (7th Cir. 1994); Horner v. Kentucky High School Athletic

Association, 43 F.3d 265 (6th Cir. 1994); and Favia v. Indiana University, 7 F.3d 332 (3d Cir.

1993).
Page 26 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Assisted Programs, provide specific details concerning title IX

requirements. OCR publicizes its policies and procedures through

publications, the press, Internet web pages, and presentations at

conferences such as those sponsored by NCAA. OCR also responds directly

to inquiries from schools and organizations regarding interpretations of

title IX.

Complaint Investigations

Covered a Broad Range of Title

IX Issues

Between fiscal year 1982 (the earliest year for which records were

available29) and fiscal year 1998, individuals and groups filed 5,227

complaints related to title IX at postsecondary institutions.30 These

complaints dealt with such issues as admissions, athletics, employment,

harassment, and student health benefits. Focusing on complaints received

since fiscal year 1994 provides a clearer view of OCR’s complaint resolution

efforts because that was the first year in which OCR’s case information

system began tracking the resolution of each issue in a case.31 Thus, this

tracking system makes it easier to identify the resolution of issues related

specifically to title IX.32

29The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare handled title IX complaints before the

establishment of the Department of Education. We were not able to obtain data on numbers

of complaints or their resolution for fiscal years 1972 through 1981.

30Title IX postsecondary complaints have been a minor proportion of all complaints filed

with OCR, representing 9 percent of the approximately 61,000 complaints OCR received and

30 percent of all complaints related to postsecondary institutions. OCR’s other civil rights

enforcement activities include laws concerning discrimination on the basis of race, color,

and national origin (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964); age (Age Discrimination Act of

1975); and disabilities (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).

31A previous GAO report discussed OCR’s case information system and OCR’s revised

approach for handling complaints. (See Department of Education: Resolving Discrimination

Complaints Has Improved With New Processing System (GAO/HEHS-99-4R, Mar. 23, 1999).

32OCR’s earlier case information system, which provides data for fiscal years 1982 to 1993,

indicates the resolution of cases, but 1,419 of the 3,834 title IX postsecondary complaints in

the earlier data system also included nontitle IX issues with no indication of how those

issues were decided. OCR concluded that 1,656 of these cases were inappropriate for OCR.

In 835 cases, no change or corrective action was required to bring the schools into

compliance; in 1,214 cases, change was facilitated. In 129 cases, the result was unclear.

OCR’s disposition on specific issues was not indicated.
Page 27 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

During fiscal years 1994 through 1998, OCR received 1,395 postsecondary

title IX complaints and acted on 1,455 complaints, including those that had

been filed earlier (see table 3).33 OCR identifies three types of dispositions:

a change facilitated, no change required, and complaints inappropriate for

OCR. OCR concluded that 860 complaints (59 percent) were inappropriate

for OCR action.34 In 279 resolved complaints (47 percent), OCR officials

concluded that the filing of the complaint or OCR’s investigation and

subsequent action facilitated a change to remedy the alleged violations.35 In

some instances, the school resolved the issue raised by the complainant. In

other instances, OCR negotiated an agreement for a change. In 316, or 53

percent, of resolved complaints, OCR concluded that no change was

required because, for example, OCR found no violation of title IX or found

insufficient evidence to support a finding of noncompliance. Complaints

with a change facilitated covered a wide range of prominent athletics

issues (see app. IV). Of the 136 cases involving athletics, 27 cases were

inappropriate for OCR. Among the remaining 109 athletics cases, OCR

facilitated change in 91 cases (83 percent).

33During fiscal years 1994 through 1998, OCR acted on a total of 25,236 complaints, including

6,838 concerning postsecondary education. As of the end of fiscal year 1998, 437

postsecondary complaints were pending.

34For 19 percent of these complaints, OCR determined that another agency (usually EEOC)

had primary jurisdiction. The other complaints were not investigated for a variety of

reasons; for example, the school or issue was outside OCR’s jurisdiction, or the complainant

did not supply sufficient information.

35These results do not include allegations of civil rights violations under laws other than title

IX, such as allegations of racial or age discrimination, or discrimination on the basis of

disability. During fiscal years 1994 through 1998, 612 (42 percent) of title IX postsecondary

complaints also involved allegations of violations of other civil rights laws.
Page 28 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Table 3: Disposition of Postsecondary Title IX Complaints With the Office for Civil

Rights, Fiscal Years 1994 Through 1998

Note: Some complaints covered more than one type of issue. The table indicates OCR’s disposition for

each type of issue, such as admissions or athletics.

a

Includes those complaints in which at least one issue resulted in the complainant withdrawing the

complaint with change by the institution alleged to have violated title IX or in OCR negotiating an

agreement for corrective action. This includes complaints in which one or more issues led to change

regardless of whether other issues led to change, did not require change, or were inappropriate for

OCR.

b

Includes those complaints in which (1) the complainant withdraws the complaint without change by

the institution alleged to have violated title IX, (2) OCR determined that there was insufficient evidence

to support a finding of a violation, or (3) OCR concluded that no violation occurred. This includes

complaints in which no change was facilitated in connection with any issue and in which OCR decided

no change was required for one or more issues, regardless of whether other issues were inappropriate

for OCR.

c

Includes complaints that (1) were referred to another agency (EEOC or the Department of Health and

Human Services, for example) or (2) involved an allegation over which OCR had no jurisdiction. This

does not include any complaints in which one or more issues led to change or in which OCR decided

no change was required.

d

Total does not equal the sum of the number of complaints because 298 of them involved issues of

more than one type.

Issue

Change

facilitateda

No change

requiredb

Inappropriate

for OCRc Total

Athletics 91 18 27 136

Sexual harassment 73 109 265 447

Grievance or other

procedures 51 35 54 140

Employee issue 24 36 219 279

Retaliation 21 51 65 137

Evaluation and grades 15 49 102 166

Admissions 13 39 75 127

Other student rights 11 16 31 58

Financial assistance 5 11 14 30

Discipline 1 16 30 47

Unspecified educationrelated service issue 1 2 53 56

Other 39 58 129 226

Total unduplicated count of

complaintsd 279 316 860 1,455
Page 29 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

OCR Has Initiated Fewer Title IX

Postsecondary Compliance

Reviews in the 1990s Than in

Previous Years

OCR can initiate compliance reviews. According to OCR officials,

compliance reviews are selected based on numerous factors, including

survey data, OCR complaint information, and information provided by

parents, education groups, media, community groups, and the public.

These targeted reviews typically address alleged violations that are broader

in scope and affect a larger number of individuals than complaint

investigations, which often involve a smaller number of individuals. During

fiscal years 1982 through 1989, OCR initiated an average of 39

postsecondary title IX reviews each year. That number dropped to an

average of about 10 per year in fiscal years 1990 through 1995 and to zero in

fiscal years 1996 through 1998. In fiscal year 1999, OCR began two title IX

postsecondary compliance reviews concerning intercollegiate athletics.

According to OCR officials, the decline resulted from resource constraints

and a focus on other title IX priorities. Rather than conducting as many

compliance reviews, OCR has emphasized the development and

dissemination of policy guidance to assist postsecondary schools in

preventing title IX violations.

Recent title IX compliance reviews have been focused on athletics (see

table 4). This represents a change from earlier years, when reviews tended

to focus more on admissions and other matters such as sexual harassment.

Of the 41 title IX postsecondary compliance reviews OCR acted on in fiscal

years 1994 through 1998, 30 involved athletics issues. In terms of the

changes facilitated, reviews focused on athletics were even more prevalent,

accounting for 29 of the 33 changes reported by OCR.
Page 30 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Table 4: Disposition of Title IX Postsecondary Compliance Reviews, Fiscal Years

1994 Through 1998

Note: A single review may involve more than one title IX issue. It may also cover allegations of civil

rights violations in addition to violations of title IX, such as retaliation, racial or age discrimination, or

discrimination on the basis of disability.

a

Cases include those in which at least one issue resulted either in a change made by the institution

reviewed or in OCR negotiating an agreement for a change.

b

Cases include those in which OCR (1) determined that there was insufficient evidence to support a

finding of a violation or (2) concluded that no violation occurred.

c

Total does not equal the sum of the number of cases because some cases involved issues of more

than one type. Six compliance reviews involved issues of more than one type.

Agency and Athletics

Association Comments

and Our Evaluation

We provided a draft of this report to Education and an earlier draft to

Education, NCAA, and NAIA for comment. We discussed the contents with

their representatives. In its comments, the Department said that, in general,

the report provided a good overview of OCR’s title IX postsecondary

education enforcement efforts. Both Education and NCAA also provided

technical comments, which we incorporated where appropriate.

Education’s comments are included in appendix V.

Issue Change facilitateda

No change

requiredb Total

Athletics 29 1 30

Grievance or other

procedures 2 0 2

Sexual harassment 2 3 5

Admissions 0 5 5

Other 1 5 6

Total unduplicated count of

reviewsc 33 8 41
Page 31 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

As arranged with your office, unless you announce its contents earlier, we

plan no further distribution of this report until 7 days after the date of this

letter. At that time, we will send copies to the Honorable Richard W. Riley,

Secretary of Education; representatives of NCAA and NAIA; and

appropriate congressional committees. We will make copies available to

others on request. Please contact me at (202) 512-7215 if you or your staff

have any questions. Other contacts and staff acknowledgments are listed in

appendix VI.

Sincerely yours,

Marnie S. Shaul, Director

Education, Workforce, and

Income Security Issues
Page 32 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Appendix I

Scope and Methodology AAppenendxdieixIs

We focused our review of title IX and higher education on (1) men’s and

women’s participation in higher education academic programs, (2) men’s

and women’s participation in intercollegiate athletics programs at 4-year

colleges and universities, and (3) information about title IX’s effect on

participation rates and the changes due to federal enforcement. As you

requested, we are also providing information concerning women’s

participation as faculty members and athletics directors and intercollegiate

athletic expenditures. In conducting our review, we relied on data obtained

from Education and intercollegiate athletics associations which, although

not verified, are considered the best available and are used extensively by

researchers. Because recent information on intercollegiate athletic

expenditures was not available from these sources at the time of our

review, we also used data published by The Chronicle of Higher Education,

as well as additional data available on its website. Education plans to make

such data available in the future.

To determine men’s and women’s participation in higher education

academic programs, we gathered and analyzed data on the numbers of men

and women who attended institutions of higher education and received

bachelor and selected first professional degrees. We also analyzed

estimates of male and female students who received financial aid and the

average amounts received. We obtained these data from the Department of

Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Data on the

numbers of enrolled students and the numbers of degree recipients came

from fall enrollment and completion components of NCES’ Integrated

Postsecondary Education Data System, which provides data for fall 1986

and succeeding years, and its predecessor, the Higher Education General

Information Survey, which provides data for earlier years. We used data for

all higher education institutions in the 50 states and the District of

Columbia and excluded data for U.S. territories. Higher education

institutions include 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities that offer

associate or more advanced degrees. Full-time enrollment data for the

1960s did not include a count of full-time extension students.

To determine men’s and women’s receipt of financial aid, we obtained and

analyzed data from an NCES study funded by Education, “National

Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972.” For similar data from

a more recent period, we used NCES’ National Postsecondary Student Aid

Survey for the 1995-96 school year. In analyzing the distribution of financial

aid by gender, we considered the proportion of men and women receiving

aid and the average amounts of aid they received in loans, grants, and

scholarships. We used t-tests to assess the statistical significance of
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 33 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

differences by gender for all undergraduate postsecondary students and

separately for five types of institutions: (1) public 4-year, (2) public lessthan-4-year, (3) private not-for-profit 4-year, (4) private not-for-profit lessthan-4-year, and (5) proprietary (for-profit) institutions. To further

investigate the differences in the proportion of male and female students

receiving grants and scholarships, we estimated the average proportion of

men and the average proportion of women receiving grants in groups based

on students’ financial standings as measured by their expected family

contribution and their estimated costs of attendance.

To analyze participation in intercollegiate athletics at 4-year colleges and

universities, we gathered participation statistics from the two largest 4-year

intercollegiate sports associationsthe National Collegiate Athletic

Association (NCAA) and the National Association of Intercollegiate

Athletics (NAIA). To estimate rates of participation in intercollegiate

sports, we divided the sum of estimated participants for both associations

by the estimated total full-time undergraduate enrollment at all 4-year

institutions. In several respects, data concerning athletics participation do

not provide a precise estimate of intercollegiate participation. For example,

both NCAA and NAIA provide estimates of the number of intercollegiate

athletes that represent the sum of the number of athletes on each team at

each school. Some athletes participate on more than one team and are

counted more than once in these data. Some 4-year institutions are

members of both NCAA and NAIA. By adding participation statistics for

both associations, we counted the athletes at those schools twice.

According to NCAA, as of April 1999, 61 schools were members of both

associations. Based on the number of teams and team size averages for the

1997-98 school year, we estimated that these schools accounted for about 3

percent of male participants and 2 percent of female participants.

Estimates of the numbers of participants in many years were based on

national average squad sizes,1 rather than a census of athletes on each

team. Some 4-year colleges and universities are not members of either

NCAA or NAIA but sponsor varsity intercollegiate sports programs. As of

fall 1996, NCAA and NAIA schools enrolled an estimated 88 percent of all

full-time undergraduate students at all 4-year colleges and universities. The

number of student athletes at NCAA and NAIA member schools represents

nearly all student athletes at 4-year schools, according to association

officials. NCAA data do not include participants for sports sponsored by

1

The squad size is the average number of players on the team.
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 34 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

fewer than 10 schools, and NAIA data include a few schools located in

Canada.

To analyze intercollegiate athletic expenditures, we obtained information

from The Chronicle of Higher Education, which collected Equity in

Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) reports from 858 of the 959 NCAA

member schools for school year 1998-99, the most recent year for which

data were available. These schools were active association members and

sponsored both men’s and women’s athletic programs. To calculate

expenditures per participant, we analyzed information only for schools that

reported both expenditures and the number of intercollegiate athletic

participants. As a result, some calculations were based on information

provided by fewer than 858 schools. In addition to calculating average

expenditures by gender, we calculated averages for groups of colleges and

universities (NCAA Division I-A, I-AA, I-AAA, II and III). For each category

of expenditures reported by the schools (recruiting, scholarships, coaches’

salaries, and operations), we aggregated expenditures and divided them by

the total number of male and female participants, respectively. To analyze

intercollegiate athletic revenue, we obtained data from the 1997-98 NCAA

Gender-Equity Study, which presents data provided by 747 of the 1031

NCAA member institutions.

To obtain information on the effects of title IX and specifically the role of

federal enforcement in realizing those effects, we performed literature

searches in general, government, and legal data sources, and discussed title

IX with 24 education and athletics officials, researchers, legal experts, and

others. From Education, we obtained OCR publications concerning title IX

and detailed data concerning all postsecondary title IX cases (compliance

reviews and complaints) from fiscal year 1982 through fiscal year 1998. We

interviewed OCR and other Department officials, obtained written

responses to inquiries, and reviewed documents concerning several

selected cases.
Page 35 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Appendix II

Federal Agencies With Title IX Enforcement

Responsibilities ApendixI

The Department of Justice coordinates title IX enforcement. There are 29

federal agencies that have responsibility for enforcing title IX. However,

until recently only four agencies had issued title IX regulations: the

Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, Department of

Energy, and the Department of Health and Human Services. On August 30,

2000, 20 federal agencies and the Department of Justice issued a title IX

common rule to eliminate discrimination based on sex in education

programs or activities that use federal money or other assistance. The

Department of Justice is assisting the following federal agencies in drafting

separate title IX regulations: Department of Labor; Institute for Museum

and Library Sciences; National Endowment for the Arts; National

Endowment for the Humanities; and the United States Information Agency.

The Department of Justice is also drafting a delegation agreement that will

explain the enforcement responsibilities among agencies in cases where an

educational institution receives funding from more than one federal

agency.

The 29 federal agencies and departments with title IX enforcement

responsibilities are the following:

• Agency for International Development

• Corporation for National and Community Service

• Department of Agriculture

• Department of Commerce

• Department of Defense

• Department of Education

• Department of Energy

• Department of Health and Human Services

• Department of Housing and Urban Development

• Department of the Interior

• Department of Justice

• Department of Labor

• Department of State

• Department of Transportation

• Department of the Treasury

• Department of Veterans Affairs

• Environmental Protection Agency

• Federal Emergency Management Agency

• General Services Administration

• Institute for Museum and Library Sciences

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• National Archives and Records Administration
Appendix II

Federal Agencies With Title IX Enforcement

Responsibilities

Page 36 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

• National Endowment for the Arts

• National Science Foundation

• National Endowment for the Humanities

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission

• Small Business Administration

• Tennessee Valley Authority

• United States Information Agency
Page 37 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Appendix III

Supplemental Information Concerning Title IX

and Higher Education ApendxiI

Table 5 shows the data that support figure 1 in the letter portion of this

report. Data are for first professional degrees for law, medicine, and

dentistry and for bachelor degrees in the other fields. We computed these

figures using NCES’ data on awards of degrees.

Table 5: Percentage of Degrees Awarded to Women in Predominantly Male Fields of

Study, School Years 1971-72 and 1996-97

Note: We identified predominantly male fields as those in which, in school year 1971-72, (1) women

represented fewer than 25 percent of degree recipients and (2) at least 5,000 bachelor or 1,000 first

professional degrees were awarded. The 25 percent figure is based on the same criteria used by the

Labor Department to define nontraditional occupations.

a

Includes degrees in business management and administrative services, marketing operations and

marketing and distribution, and consumer and personal services.

b

Includes degrees in political science and government but excludes degrees in public administration

and international relations.

c

Includes bachelor of law and doctor of law degrees.

d

Doctor of medicine degree.

e

Includes doctor of dental surgery and doctor of dental medicine degrees.

f

Includes degrees in general physical sciences, astronomy, astrophysics, atmospheric science and

meteorology, chemistry, geology, miscellaneous physical sciences, physics, science technologies, and

other physical sciences.

g

Includes general degrees in computer science and information science, computer programming, data

processing technology, information science and systems, and computer systems.

h

Includes degrees in engineering and engineering-related technologies, such as electrical and

electronic technologies and industrial production technologies.

1971-72 1996-97

Women as

percentage of

total

Men Women Men Women 1971-72 1996-97

Zoology 4,325 1,197 1,751 1,775 22 50

Businessa 109,688 11,578 116,512 110,096 10 49

Political scienceb 22,845 5,290 16,081 12,892 19 44

Lawc 20,266 1,498 22,548 17,531 7 44

Medicined 8,423 830 9,121 6,450 9 41

Dentistrye 3,819 43 2,387 1,397 1 37

Physical sciencef 17,663 3,082 12,165 7,255 15 37

Computer scienceg 2,941 461 18,041 6,731 14 27

Engineeringh 50,638 526 62,510 12,491 1 17
Appendix III

Supplemental Information Concerning Title

IX and Higher Education

Page 38 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Table 6 shows the data that support figure 2 in the letter portion of this

report. We computed these figures using data from the NCAA, the NAIA,

and the NCES fall enrollment data set.

Table 6: Estimated Participation Rates in Intercollegiate Sports at 4-Year Colleges

and Universities, School Years 1966-1967 to 1998-1999

a

Annual estimates of athletics participation were available beginning in 1981. In previous years, NCAA

did not compile data annually but did so at 5-year intervals. Enrollment data for full-time

undergraduates at 4-year schools by gender were not available for 1982 through 1984.

b

The numbers given are fall enrollment figures.

c

These estimated participation rates were calculated by dividing the estimated number of NCAA and

NAIA participants by the total number of full-time undergraduates at 4-year colleges and universities.

See app. I for a discussion of the limitations of these estimates.

d

Data were not available.

Full-time

undergraduates at

4-year institutions

(in thousands)b

Participants in

intercollegiate

athletics (in

thousands, estimated)

Participation rate as a

percentagec

Yeara Men Women Men Women Men Women

1966-67 1,911 1,346 227 15 11.9 1.1

1971-72 2,385 1,800 248 30 10.4 1.7

1976-77 2,304 2,000 236 63 10.2 3.1

1981-82 2,363 2,290 216 86 9.1 3.7

1985-86 2,330 2,299 249 126 10.7 5.5

1986-87 2,322 2,334 239 122 10.3 5.2

1987-88 2,344 2,410 229 122 9.8 5.1

1988-89 2,387 2,507 231 124 9.7 5.0

1989-90 2,409 2,576 225 122 9.4 4.7

1990-91 2,455 2,637 232 125 9.5 4.7

1991-92 2,474 2,673 230 118 9.3 4.4

1992-93 2,472 2,691 227 120 9.2 4.5

1993-94 2,454 2,682 231 126 9.4 4.7

1994-95 2,430 2,707 222 129 9.1 4.8

1995-96 2,418 2,750 236 145 9.7 5.3

1996-97 2,422 2,802 235 150 9.7 5.3

1997-98 2,450 2,877 234 157 9.5 5.5

1998-99 d d 237 167 d d
Page 39 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Appendix IV

Supplemental Information Concerning OCR

Cases Involving Intercollegiate Athletics ApendixIV

Because athletics has been a controversial aspect of title IX enforcement,

we conducted additional analyses of OCR’s actions in this area. From fiscal

years 1994 through 1998, OCR acted on 166 cases (136 complaints and 30

compliance reviews) involving athletics issues. OCR concluded that 27 of

the complaint cases were inappropriate for OCR. The 139 remaining cases

covered 16 different athletics issues identified by OCR staff. Table 7 shows

the 10 issues most frequently cited in these cases.

Table 7: Top 10 Athletics Issues in the 139 Cases OCR Acted On, Fiscal Years 1994

Through 1998

Note: Cases typically involved more than one issue. In 17 cases, OCR staff indicated a general

athletics issue code without specifying any of the codes shown in this table. According to OCR officials,

a complaint concerning a specific athletics issue at a school sometimes prompted investigations of

other athletics issues at the school.

a

These include cases identified as involving issues concerning accommodation of interests and

abilities, denial of participation, or recruitment.

Among the various issues included in an athletics investigation, OCR

assesses schools’ compliance with requirements concerning equitable

opportunities to participate in intercollegiate sports. To comply, schools

must meet any one of the three following criteria, which Education refers

to as a three-part test: (1) opportunities for intercollegiate-level

participation for male and female students are provided in numbers

substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments, or (2) the

institution can show a history and continuing practice of program

expansion that is demonstrably responsive to the developing interests and

abilities of members of the underrepresented gender, or (3) it can be

demonstrated that the interests and abilities of members of the

Issue Number of cases

Accommodation of interests and abilities (opportunities to

participate in intercollegiate sports)a 86

Athletics financial assistance and scholarships 77

Athletics equipment, supplies, and facilities 76

Assignment and training of coaching staff 69

Opportunity to receive coaching 67

Travel and per diem 60

Athletics recruitment 58

Medical and training facilities and services 55

Scheduling 53

Support services 52
Appendix IV

Supplemental Information Concerning OCR

Cases Involving Intercollegiate Athletics

Page 40 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

underrepresented gender have been fully and effectively accommodated by

the present program. According to OCR officials, in no case did OCR agree

to hold a school to a standard below that indicated in its regulations and

publications, although schools were given time to come into compliance.

In more than half (74) of the 139 athletics cases acted on by OCR during

this period, OCR assessed schools’ compliance with the three-part test and

either determined that the school had complied or determined which part

of the three-part test the school would most likely meet. In each case the

school selected which part of the three-part test it would use. Figure 3

shows how many of these schools chose each part.

Figure 3: Means of Resolving Cases Involving the Three-Part Test, Fiscal Years 1994

Through 1998

Note: The second and third parts focus on expanding the program for the underrepresented gender

and the full and effective accommodation of the interests and abilities of the underrepresented gender.

In each of the cases shown, the underrepresented gender was female.

0

10

20

30

40

50

Full and Effective

Accommodation of

Interests and Abilities

History and

Continuing Program

Expansion

Substantial

Proportionality

21

4

49

Number of OCR Cases
Appendix IV

Supplemental Information Concerning OCR

Cases Involving Intercollegiate Athletics

Page 41 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

In 21 cases, schools were found to be in compliance or chose to come into

compliance with the first part of the three-part test by achieving substantial

proportionality in intercollegiate sports participation. OCR assesses

proportionality by comparing the percentage of participants in

intercollegiate athletics who are women with the percentage of full-time

undergraduates in the student body who are women, and comparing the

percentage of participants who are men with the percentage of full-time

undergraduates who are men. OCR would consider opportunities to be

substantially proportionate where the number of opportunities that would

be required to achieve proportionality would not be sufficient to support a

viable team. If, for example, 50 percent of full-time undergraduates are

women and 47 percent of intercollegiate athletes are women (47 women

and 53 men), six additional women would be needed to make women’s

participation proportionate. Because this number is too few to form a team,

OCR would regard the school as having substantially proportionate

participation. If, on the other hand, the school had twice as many women

and men participating (94 women and 106 men), 12 additional women

would be required to make women’s participation proportional. If OCR

determined that 12 additional participants were sufficient to support a

viable team for which there was interest and ability on campus, then OCR

might determine that participation opportunities at that institution were

not substantially proportionate. Disparities could also be regarded as

substantially proportionate if the numbers of full-time undergraduate men

and women in the student body unexpectedly changed substantially. OCR

allows participants who compete in more than one sport to be counted as a

participant in each sport. As a result, the total number of participants

counted can exceed the actual number of athletes.

In four cases, schools were found to be in compliance with the second part

of the three-part test by showing a historical and continuing expansion of

the intercollegiate athletics program for the underrepresented gender

(typically women’s programs).

In 49 (two-thirds) of 74 cases, schools were found to be in compliance or

chose to come into compliance with the third part of the three-part test.

This required that they provide intercollegiate sports teams for women

where sufficient numbers of women were interested in participating in a

particular sport, where students had sufficient ability to sustain an

intercollegiate team, and where there were opportunities to compete with

teams at other schools.
Appendix IV

Supplemental Information Concerning OCR

Cases Involving Intercollegiate Athletics

Page 42 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

In addition to these 74 cases, OCR identified 10 cases that were resolved

before fiscal year 1994. Two of the 10 schools chose to come into

compliance through the first part (substantial proportionality) and 8 chose

the third part (full and effective accommodation of interests and abilities).
Page 43 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Appendix V

Comments From the Department of

Education ApendxVi

Now on p. 23.
Appendix V

Comments From the Department of

Education

Page 44 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Now on p. 6.
Appendix V

Comments From the Department of

Education

Page 45 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Now on p. 7.
Appendix V

Comments From the Department of

Education

Page 46 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Now on p. 8.

Now on p. 8.

Now on p. 18.

Now on p. 24.

Now on p. 24.
Appendix V

Comments From the Department of

Education

Page 47 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Now on p. 29.

Now on p. 35.

Now on p. 39.

Now on pp. 39 and 40.

Now on p. 41.

Now on p. 41.
Appendix V

Comments From the Department of

Education

Page 48 GAO-01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Now on p. 42.
Page 49 GAO/XXXX-??-?? Document Name

Appendix VI

GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments ApendixVI

GAO Contacts David Bellis, Assistant Director, (415) 904-2272

Benjamin Pfeiffer, Senior Analyst, (206) 287-4832

Staff

Acknowledgments

In addition, Benjamin F. Jordan, Jr., Ann P. McDermott, Meeta Sharma,

Stanley G. Stenersen, and Stefanie G. Weldon made key contributions to

this report.
Page 50 GAO01-128 Gender Equity in Higher Education

Related GAO Products

Intercollegiate Athletics: Comparison of Selected Characteristics of Men’s

and Women’s Programs (GAO/HEHS-99-3R, June 18, 1999).

Department of Education: Resolving Discrimination Complaints Has

Improved With New Processing System (GAO/HEHS-99-47R, Mar. 23, 1999).

Intercollegiate Athletics: Status of Efforts to Promote Gender Equity

(GAO/HEHS-97-10, Oct. 25, 1996).

Department of Education: Efforts by the Office for Civil Rights to Resolve

Asian-American Complaints (GAO/HEHS-96-23, Dec. 11, 1995).

Women’s Educational Equity Act: A Review of Program Goals and

Strategies Needed (GAO/PEMD-95-6, Dec. 27, 1994).

Intercollegiate Athletics: Compensation Varies for Selected Personnel in

Athletic Departments (GAO/HRD-92-121, Aug. 19, 1992).

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