National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

June 30, 1997

Lawmakers want federal gender report

Legislation that would require colleges and universities to report to the U.S. Department of Education how much they spend on men's and women's sports and that would require the Department of Education to publish the data has been introduced in Congress.

Dubbed the Fair Play Act, the legislation would require the Education Department to publish the data annually on the Internet, establish a toll-free number for accessing the information and notify high schools that the information is available.

The legislation was introduced June 18 by Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, D-Illinois, and Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-New York. They said the legislation's purpose is to strengthen the enforcement of Title IX.

Colleges already are required to compile information about their men's and women's athletics programs, including participation rates, operating and recruitment budgets, availability of scholarships, revenues from athletics programs, and coaches' salaries. But because there is no repository for the information, it is difficult to obtain and evaluate it or put it into context, Braun and Lowey said.

The Fair Play Act would direct institutions to send that information to the Department of Education, which in turn would be required to disseminate the information through a variety of mechanisms:

  • An annual report containing the information reported by the institutions, including aggregate data, trends, information arranged by athletics conference, and information on individual schools.

  • Publication of the report on the World Wide Web, thus increasing its accessibility and saving publication costs.

    >LI> Establishment of a toll-free number through which people could request the information reported by the schools, the annual report or other information about Title IX.

  • Notification to high schools that the information is available.

    Moseley-Braun said the Fair Play Act would provide prospective students with information to make informed decisions about where to go to school.

    She said the legislation would not impose an additional burden on institutions because they report the information under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, enacted in 1994. Moseley-Braun also was an author of that legislation.

    The legislation also would give the Department of Education information to assist it in enforcing Title IX in the area of athletics and would encourage schools to continue to expand athletics programs to meet the interests of women, she said.

    "This legislation is the logical next step in the continuing effort to expand athletics opportunities available to women," Moseley-Braun said. "Over its 25-year history, Title IX has been directly responsible for expanding the athletics opportunities available to millions of women and girls. The Fair Play Act will build on this legacy of success and provide the information needed to ensure that the expansion of athletics opportunities available to women continues into the 21st century."

    Citing statistics from the 1997 NCAA gender-equity study, Moseley-Braun said most colleges and universities do not provide female athletes with athletics opportunities comparable to men.

    "While we have made great strides, a significant gap still remains," she said.

    In introducing a similar bill in the House of Representatives, Lowey said the legislation is intended to make the information being reported by the institutions readily available to potential students.

    "A 16-year-old female athlete considering where to go to college might wonder which schools are doing right by their students and which are lagging behind," she said. "Surprisingly, that question cannot be easily answered -- by the federal government, academic researchers, the media or prospective college students. This report will let every American know how colleges and universities stack up against their peers. And it will help encourage those schools that have not made gender equity a priority to step up to the plate and let their female students join the game."

    Lowey said that the legislation has a tough road to become law because there are members of Congress who would rather repeal Title IX than strengthen it. "To the critics of Title IX, we say: Title IX works," she said.