College Athletics: Education Should Improve Its Title IX Enforcement Efforts. Report to Congressional Requesters. GAO-24-105994

Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal financial assistance, including college athletics programs. Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for enforcing Title IX by investigating complaints, negotiating agreements with colleges to address concerns, and monitoring agreements. US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review opportunities for women college athletes. This report examines (1) college athletic opportunities for women and (2) the extent to which Education oversees compliance with Title IX college athletics requirements. GAO analyzed the most recent available Education data reported by colleges for academic year 2021-2022 and analyzed OCR case management data for academic years 2008-2009 through 2021-2022, the most recent data available. GAO reviewed documentation for a nongeneralizable sample of 26 of 79 publicly available OCR athletics cases, selected to include a variety of athletics issues. GAO also interviewed Education officials and college athletic stakeholder groups, and reviewed federal laws and regulations.