Title IX, the Education Amendments of 1972, is a federal act that states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance" (Costa, 95). It was passed in Congress and signed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972 and became law in 1975. Schools and universities had three years to comply, but there have been major problems with compliance throughout the country. It is often not being enforced unless someone files a lawsuit. Here we will look at Title IX itself, the important court cases that have applied to compliance issues, and the current compliance issues.
             Since Title IX is the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education, it applies to a wide range of school programs and activities, including interscholastic athletics. Under Title IX, school districts must provide females and males with equal athletic opportunities. The focus of Title IX is on overall program equality, not comparisons between specific sports. Title IX does not require that male and female athletes receive identical support and services. Instead, it requires that male and female athletes receive the same quality of support and that each program equally meets the needs of the athletes involved. To help determine whether an equal athletic opportunity exists, federal regulations set out a series of "program components" which must be evaluated. For a school to be found in violation of Title IX, there must be a disparity between the way male and female athletes are treated in at least one component of the school's overall program, and the disparity must result in a lack of equal opportunity. The federal law does not require the provision of any specific athletic program or services; rather i...