https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated March 27, 2025
Title IX and Athletics: Legal Basics
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX)
prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education
programs and activities that receive federal financial
assistance. The Department of Education (ED) has enforced
the law in education programs it funds, including all K-12
public school districts and most colleges and universities
(recipient schools). Although the statute does not mention
athletics, long-standing regulations implementing Title IX
provide that recipient schools may not discriminate based
on sex in athletics programs or activities.
Drawing on Title IX’s athletics regulations, a Policy
Interpretation from 1979 (issued by the predecessor agency
to ED, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare)
lays out three basic categories in which recipient schools
face Title IX obligations with respect to their athletics
programs and activities:
• Proportional Financial Assistance (i.e., scholarships)
• Equivalent Benefits and Opportunities
• Effective Accommodation of Interest and Abilities
While directed toward intercollegiate athletics, the general
principles and standards in the Policy Interpretation often
apply to interscholastic athletics programs at the elementary
and secondary levels, as well as to club and intramural
programs. This In Focus provides background on Title IX’s
athletics requirements, including the basics of how Title IX
has been enforced, the legal obligations recipient schools
face, and emerging legal questions relevant to athletics.
Enforcement
Title IX has been generally enforced in two ways: (1)
through private lawsuits brought directly against recipients
in federal court and (2) by federal agencies that distribute
funding to recipients. Federal agencies that distribute
federal funds to education programs are responsible for
promulgating regulations to implement Title IX and may
terminate or suspend assistance in cases of noncompliance.
Because ED has distributed substantial funding in the
elementary, secondary, and postsecondary contexts, ED’s
Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has played a lead role in
enforcing Title IX against schools that receive ED funding.
OCR was established in the Department of Education
Organization Act, along with various other offices in the
Department.
On March 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive
order directing the Secretary of ED, to the maximum extent
consistent with the law, take steps to close the Department.
ED recently initiated a reduction in force that, according to
news reports, cut OCR’s staff by about half. A pending
lawsuit argues that these reductions impede OCR’s ability
to enforce civil rights laws.
Separate Athletics Teams
While Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in recipient
schools’ athletics programs, this prohibition does not mean
all sex-based distinctions are banned. According to Title IX
regulations, schools may offer separate athletics teams for
each sex where selection is based on competitive skill or the
activity is a contact sport. In addition, subject to the
obligations described below, while schools must provide
equal athletics opportunity to members of both sexes, they
do not necessarily need to offer the same sports for each
sex. Even so, if a school only offers a sport for one sex, and
opportunities for the other sex have been previously
limited, a student from the excluded sex must be allowed to
try out for the team unless it is a contact sport. (Contact
sports include boxing, wrestling, rugby, ice hockey,
football, and basketball.) In addition, Title IX does not
require equal aggregate expenditures for men’s and
women’s athletics programs.
Three Categories of Obligations
Proportional Scholarships
When colleges and universities award athletics
scholarships, they must offer reasonable opportunities for
awards for members of each sex in proportion to the
number of students participating in intercollegiate athletics.
This obligation does not mean the dollar amount of
scholarships for men and women must be perfectly equal.
Instead, total assistance awarded to each sex must be
substantially proportionate to the participation rates of men
and women. Put another way, if 60% of an institution’s
intercollegiate athletes are women, then the total amount of
aid to women athletes should be approximately 60%.
Disparities can be justified by certain legitimate,
nondiscriminatory factors.
Equivalent Benefits and Opportunities
Title IX regulations require recipients that operate athletics
programs to provide “equal athletic opportunity for
members of both sexes.” In determining whether this
standard is met, a range of factors are relevant, including
equipment and supplies; scheduling; travel expenses;
coaching and tutoring, including compensation thereof;
practice and competitive facilities; medical and training
facilities and services; and publicity, as well as recruitment
and support services.
Institutions must provide equivalent treatment, benefits, and
services for women’s and men’s teams overall. The
availability, quality, and kinds of opportunities can be
relevant considerations. According to this standard,
