People and Sports - Spending On College Teams

The panel compares the average spending per institution on selected aspects of male and female athletic programs. Data come from a survey of Division I programs conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Athletics programs for women have been receiving attention since the passing of Title IX in 1972. This federal law prohibited gender discrimination in public classrooms and athletic fields. Just as women entered college and the workforce in large numbers, so too did they pursue athletics: the number of women in college sports quintupled from 32,000 to 163,000. The trend hasn't just affected college sports either. In 1972, only one in 27 girls participated in high-school sports; today, one in three girls do, according to the source.

More money is spent on recruitment and scholarships for men's programs than women's'. Men receive roughly two-thirds of recruitment budgets across all athletic divisions.

But spending on scholarships for women grew 43%, compared to only 25% for men. Indeed, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, women have been getting slightly more scholarship money than is required by federal guidelines. Female athletes, who make up 41.5% of varsity athletes, received 43% of scholarship dollars in 1999-2000 (the Department of Education told colleges that the proportion of scholarship aid must be within one percentage point of the proportion of women on varsity teams). Many schools actually spend more money on scholarships than they are required to.

More dollars were spent on head coach salaries for men's programs than women's' programs. No surprise here: men have always made more money than women have. But the growth in spending was higher for women: spending jumped 25.2% from 1995-96 to 1997-98, while the increase for men was only 22.3%. Is there more of an effort to attract both coaching and athletic talent for women's teams?

Women's sports are coming into their own. The Women's Sports Foundation claims that the number of 18-34 year olds who watch sports has increased by 40% over the last 25 years. Sports sponsorship has crossed the $1 billion threshold, according to American Demographics.

But men's sports teams are still the big moneymakers (football and basketball make up roughly 70% of the average NCAA Division I athletic budget, according to USA Today). Because of this, the dollars will follow suit. According to USA Today, between 1972 and 1997, for every new dollar spent on women's sports, $2 was added to men's sports. Between 1992 and 1997, for every new dollar spent on women's sports, $3 was spent on men's sports.

What kind of sports are college women pursuing? The next panel examines this question.

Sources: "Suit Unfairly Attacks Effort to Boost Women's Sports." USA TODAY, January 21, 2002; Welch Suggs. "Scholarships for Women Exceed Federal Guidelines ." Chronicle of Higher Education, May 18, 2001, p. 1; "No Longer Just Fun and Games." American Demographics, May 1, 2001, p. 36.