June 23rd, 1972, the amendment to the education system known as Title IX was enacted into law. Title IX prohibits federally funded educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex. It starts by saying “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” (Title IX). Any school that receives any federal money from the elementary schools to universities level–in short, nearly all schools–must provide fair and equal treatment of the sexes in all areas, including athletics.
Before Title IX there was few to none athletic opportunities for females(Waxman). In 1906 the NCAA was created, it was only for men’s sports though. No athletic scholarships were offered for women and no championships were held for women’s teams(Waxman). Also, the facilities, supplies and funds were lacking. Due to all theses factors, only 30,000 were in college-level sports by 1972(Waxman). Title IX did not demand that both sides receive equal funding, just equality of quality, so that facilities and equipment were the same as men’s sports. After it passed, high school girl athletics went from 300,000 participants to 2.6 million. In college it went from 30,000 to 150,000(Waxman). Some think the passing of Title IX also contributed to female drop out rates improving(Waxman).
The History of Education 