As colleges and universities continue to face tough decisions regarding how to deliver their academic offerings to students \u2013 full return to campus, 100% remote learning, or a hybrid method \u2013 many also struggle with the financial implications of those decisions \u2013 students opting to take a \u201cgap year\u201d or explore lower-priced alternatives, decreased or eliminated revenue from room and board, decreased or eliminated revenue from ticket sales for athletics and entertainment offerings, and increased expenses for cleaning and sanitization, as well as the maintenance of quarantine spaces.<\/p>\n
For many schools facing these financial obstacles, cutting sports became and continues to be a fiscally-attractive option.\u00a0 Schools looking to do so, however, cannot make their decisions in a vacuum; looming in the distance is Title IX.<\/p>\n
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal funds, such as student financial aid. \u00a0It applies to sports by ensuring men and women have equitable participation opportunities, as well as access to scholarships.<\/p>\n
While Title IX doesn\u2019t prevent women\u2019s sports from being eliminated, any elimination has to be done in a fair and equitable manner to ensure that the school remains in compliance with the law.\u00a0 In other words, decisions cannot be made solely on the basis of which programs cost the most money and generate the least revenue in return.<\/p>\n
In some respects, the inquiry into whether a school remains in compliance with Title IX after cutting sports is not necessarily what gets cut, but, rather, what is left.\u00a0 That is, do the school\u2019s remaining programs offer equitable participation opportunities and access to scholarships?<\/p>\n
Given that the greatest revenue-generators for a school tend to be male sports like football and basketball, less-profitable men\u2019s sports have felt vulnerable to the mandates of Title IX.\u00a0 By way of example, the big-business Division I FBS schools, which provide 85 football scholarships, need a large offering of women\u2019s sports to stay compliant with Title IX, particularly if they also want to offer other men\u2019s sports programs with high scholarship rates like basketball or hockey.<\/p>\n
Many teams have taken matters into their own hands, undertaking various forms of grassroots fundraising to keep their seasons alive.\u00a0 How quickly college and university budgets will rebound to pre-pandemic levels is certainly something to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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