t requires that, whatever services are provided, be provided equitably.
             Title IX governs the overall equity of treatment and opportunity in athletics while giving schools the flexibility to choose sports based on student body interest, geographic influence, a given school's budget restraints, and gender ratio. The focus is on the necessity for women to have equal opportunities as men on a whole, not on an individual basis. While Title IX was intended to cover all areas of general discrimination, like education and employment, it has received national attention for athletics. In regard to intercollegiate athletics, there are three primary areas that determine if an institution is in compliance: athletic financial assistance, accommodation of athletic interests and abilities, and other program areas (Costa, 112). Appraisal of compliance is on a program-wide basis, not on a sport-by-sport basis. Financial assistance must be awarded based on the number of male and female athletes. The test is financial proportionality. The total amounts of athletics aid must be substantially proportionate to the ratio of male and female athletes. Also, the selection of sports and the level of competition must effectively accommodate the students' interests and abilities. There are three factors that are looked at consecutively. One factor is "whether the intercollegiate level participation opportunities for male and female students are provided in numbers substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments." (Costa, 112). It is important whether the members of one sex have been and are underrepresented among intercollegiate athletes. Another factor is "whether the institution can show a history and continuing practice of program expansion which is demonstrably responsive to the developing interests and abilities of that sex" (Costa, 113). If the members of one sex are unde!
             rrepresented among intercollegiate athletes and the institution cannot ...