Title IX and Athletics

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits public and private educational institutions that receive federal funds from discriminating because of gender in any aspect of their operations. If any aspect of a college or university's operations receives federal funds, then all aspects of their operations are subject to Title IX. Insofar as virtually all institutions of higher education receive federal funds in the form of student financial aid, just about all colleges and universities in the United States are covered by Title IX. This entry reviews the impact of Title IX with regard to intercollegiate athletics in American higher education.

The statute explicitly forbids quotas, and judicial interpretations of the law in a wide array of cases are both broader and narrower than the ...