Female participation in college sports has made significant gains, with Division I-AAA becoming the first NCAA division or subdivision to average an equal proportion of male and female student-athletes, according to the 2001-02 Gender-Equity Report.

In all other divisions, women made up 39 percent or more of the student-athletes, while in Division I overall, women accounted for 44 percent of all student-athletes. That figure was up from 41 percent in the 1999-2000 report.

While these increases in the number of female student-athletes are encouraging, the report also found that in most other categories -- such as dollars spent on athletics, scholarships and coaches' salaries -- women's athletics made only minor gains compared to their male counterparts.

In most cases, according to the report, the total number of dollars spent on men's athletics increased just as much, if not more than, the money spent for women's athletics. The proportion of money spent on women's teams showed no significant increases from the 1999-2000 report.

In the report, Division I-A men accounted for 57 percent of the participants and received 59 percent of the scholarship dollars. But in Division I-AAA, which does not have football, women received the greatest proportion of scholarship money at 55 percent, while making up 50 percent of the student-athlete population. This is in comparison with the 1999-2000 report that showed women in all divisions receiving a proportion of scholarship dollars equal to or greater than the proportion of women participants.

In Division I-A head coaching salaries, the proportion of dollars spent on head coaches of women's teams decreased from the 1999-2000 report from 38 to 36 percent. In all other divisions, there was virtually no change in the proportion of dollars spent on head coaches of women's teams. Division II head coaches of women's teams received the highest proportion of the salary budget at 47 percent.

The report also showed that the proportion of dollars spent on assistant coaches for women's teams continues to lag behind the amount spent on assistant coaches of men's teams.

"It is encouraging to see the progress that is being made, especially in terms of the number of opportunities for women to participate," said NCAA President Myles Brand. "The goal is full compliance with federal law, as a minimum, and we have to keep our eyes on that goal.

"Another important goal, especially with the overall infrastructure, is ensuring that women benefit from the values of participation in athletics in the same way that men have for decades," said Brand. "That should be sufficient motivation to achieve full compliance."

The NCAA has produced the Gender-Equity Report biennially since 1991. The study was not designed to measure Title IX compliance by institutions, but the information does provide a clear basis for comparison of men's and women's athletics.

The data was collected through a survey of all 1,034 NCAA member institutions in September 2002. Usable survey results were received from 889 members, which represents a response rate of 86 percent. That's a 6 percent increase from the 1999-2000 report.

As in the 1999-2000 report, the proportion of female student athletes continues to increase in Divisions I and II and is holding steady in Division III. Division I continues to have the highest proportion of female student-athletes, with Division I-AAA specifically having equal numbers of males and females.

Also noted in the report:

* In Division I-A, the proportion of female student-athletes increased more than reported in 2000, rising from 39 percent to 43 percent of the total number of student-athletes.

* In Division I-AA, the proportion of females rose from 40 percent in 2000 to 42 percent in 2002.

* Division I-AAA is the first division or subdivision to achieve an equal proportion of male and female student-athletes. However, it must be noted that these schools do not have football programs.

* In Division II, the number of male and female student-athletes remained relatively stable with the proportion of female student-athletes increasing from 38 percent to 39 percent over the two-year period.

* In Division III, women's participation levels remained unchanged from 2000, with the proportion of female student-athletes at 40 percent.

Despite modest gains in the past two years, the report does show that the number of women participating in athletics has significantly increased since 1991, when the first such report was released.

In 1991, the proportion of women athletes in Division I was 31 percent, compared to 44 percent in the most recent report. In Division II the proportion of women athletes increased from 32 percent in 1991 to 39 percent, and in Division III the proportion increased from 35 percent to 40 percent.

Expenses

In all divisions, total expenses increased for male and female athletes and the proportion of money spent on women's athletics showed slight increases in all divisions. Division I-AAA showed the smallest proportional difference in spending with women's programs generating 48 percent of all expenses. This was followed by Divisions II and III with 41 percent each.

In 2001-02, the average total expenses overall for Division I men's athletics was nearly $6 million, which accounted for 66 percent of the total. Total average expense for women's athletics in Division I was about $3.1 million, or 34 percent of the total expenses. That proportion is exactly the same as in the 1999-2000 report.

In Division II, the average total expenses for men's athletics was slightly more than $1 million, or 59 percent of the total expenses. Women's athletics expenses accounted for nearly $708,000, or 41 percent.

In Division III, the total expenses for men's athletics averaged nearly $473,000, or 59 percent, while total expenses for women's athletics averaged more than $331,000, or 41 percent.

For recruiting expenses, the proportion of expenditures in this area increased slightly for women's sports in most divisions, with Division I-AAA and Division III being the exceptions. However, Division I-AAA is still the only division or subdivision in which women receive more than 40 percent of the recruiting budget.

For Division I overall, recruiting expenses for men's athletics was about $189,500, or 67 percent, while recruiting for women's sports was about $92,000, or 33 percent. That figure for recruiting for women's sports was up 1 percent from the 1999-2000 report.

In Division II, recruiting expenses for men averaged more than $20,000, or 64 percent, while recruiting expenses for women were slightly more than $11,000, or 36 percent. Again, that figure for women's sports was up about 1 percent from the previous report.

In Division III, recruiting expenses averaged more than $15,000 for men, or 66 percent, and the same expenses for women averaged $8,000, or 34 percent. The figure for women's sports was down 1 percent from the 1999-2000 report.

Scholarships

In 1999-2000, scholarship figures in all divisions showed an increase in the proportion given to females, except for Division I-AAA, which remained constant. In this current report, Division I-AAA showed the greatest increase in the proportion of scholarship dollars given to females.

All other divisions remained constant or had a slight increase (Division III does not award athletics scholarships).

In 1999-2000, women in every division were provided a higher proportion of scholarship dollars than the proportion of female student-athletes within that respective division. This no longer holds true in Division I-A. In Division I-AAA, female student-athletes continue to receive a majority of athletics dollars, 55 percent compared to 52 percent in the previous report.

All other divisions reported proportions of at least 40 percent of scholarship funds allocated to females. The fact that Division I-AAA schools do not sponsor football likely accounts for a portion of this difference.

In Division I overall, men's scholarships averaged nearly $1.6 million, or 56 percent of the total scholarships. Women's athletics scholarships averaged more than $1.26 million, or 44 percent of the total. For women's scholarships, that was an increase of 1 percent from the previous report.

In Division II, men's scholarships averaged nearly $430,000, or 58 percent of the total, while women's scholarships averaged more than $317,000, or about 42 percent of the total. Here too in women's sports, that represents an increase of 1 percent from the 1999-2000 report.

Coaches' salaries

In all cases, the average expense for all head coaches' salaries combined increased for both men's and women's athletics. In Division I-A, the average amount of money allocated for all men's head coaches' salaries increased by more than $258,000 to more than $1 million.

The average amount spent in Division I-A for all women's head coaches' salaries increased by an average of $97,000 to $577,000. However, the proportion of head coaches' salaries spent on women's teams decreased by 2 percent in Division
I-A to 36 percent.

In the other divisions, the proportion of women's teams' head coach-salary expenditures remained relatively constant from the previous report.

The recent study also found that the proportion of women's assistant coaches' salaries continues to lag well behind that of men's in all divisions except Division I-AAA. As in the 1999-2000 report, Division I-AAA men's teams' assistant coaches received 54 percent of the salary dollars compared to 46 percent for women's teams' assistant coaches.

In all other divisions, the women's teams' assistants received no more than 32 percent of the salary budget for assistant coaches.

In Division I overall, the average school spent more than $594,000, or 61 percent of the allocation, on men's head coaches' salaries, while the average school spent about $381,000, or 39 percent of the allocation, on women's head coaches' salaries.

The proportions were slightly better in Division II. An average of nearly $149,000, or 53 percent of the allocation, was spent on men's head coaches' salaries, while about $131,000, or 47 percent of the allocation, was spent on women's head coaches' salaries.

The figures improved still more in Division III where an average of more than $138,000, or 55 percent of the allocation, was spent on men's head coaches' salaries. An average of more than $114,000, or 45 percent of the allocation, went to women's head coaches' salaries.