A report by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) shows that intercollegiate athletics programs have made significant progress in expanding female participation while at the same time maintaining growth in men's programs.

The GAO study, released March 8, shows that the number of women participating in intercollegiate athletics at four-year colleges and universities increased from 90,100 to 162,783 between the 1981 and 1998 academic years. At the same time, men's participation increased from 220,178 to 231,866. The figures include institutions from the NCAA and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The study notes that women's athletics participation grew at more than twice the rate of the growth of women's undergraduate enrollment, while men's participation growth more closely mirrored the growth of men's undergraduate enrollment.

The number of women's teams grew especially quickly over the 18-year comparison period, and as of the 1998-99 academic year, the number of women's teams exceeded men's by 330 nationwide, according to the study. The number of women's teams grew from 5,695 in 1981 to 9,479 in 1998 while men's teams increased by 36 over the same period, from 9,113 to 9,149.

For both genders, soccer showed the greatest growth in the number of teams, increasing by 846 teams for women and 135 for men.

Although football lost 37 teams from 1981 to 1998, the sport showed more participation gain than any men's sport. Football participation climbed from 53,213 in 1981 to 60,412 in 1998. Put another way, the average squad size in football grew from 76 in 1981 to 90 in 1998.

Other NCAA men's championship sports showing participation gains over the period included baseball, indoor track, lacrosse, soccer, basketball and volleyball.

NCAA men's sports with participation decreases included wrestling (9,214 to 6,566, 29 percent decline), outdoor track, tennis, gymnastics, swimming, fencing, rifle, skiing, cross country, ice hockey and water polo.

Although many programs cite the cost of meeting Title IX requirements as the cause for cutting men's programs, the study notes that most institutions added women's teams without discontinuing any teams. Those institutions that did cut men's programs most often cited declining interest as the reason. Decisions to eliminate teams tended to be made quickly, with three months or less typically transpiring between originating the proposal and making the final decision.

Institutions that added women's teams most often cited two reasons: the need to address student interest in particular sports and the need to meet gender-equity goals or requirements.

All NCAA women's sports except gymnastics (minus 31 percent) and field hockey (minus 4 percent) gained participation from 1981 to 1998. Soccer grew almost tenfold, with participation increasing from 1,855 in 1981 to 19,987 in 1998. Rowing also grew quickly, increasing from 1,187 to 5,628.

The GAO reported that 963 institutions had added teams and 307 had discontinued teams since 1992-93.