Contact: Rebecca Stewart
Telephone: 513-479-3335
Email: info@saveservices.org
Colleges and Universities are Failing to Meet Their Title IX Obligations to Male Students
WASHINGTON / August 20, 2019 – A review of scholarships at over 200 colleges and universities in 36 states reveals widespread discriminatory practices in the provision of sex-specific scholarships for male students. The analysis reveals 57% of institutions offer scholarships that facially violate provisions of Title IX that ban sex-based discrimination. Among the other schools, 27% were classified as Borderline, and only 16% were assessed as Compliant with Title IX requirements (1).
For example, Kent State University in Ohio offers two scholarships for male students, compared to 11 scholarships reserved for females. In Academic Year 2018-19, each male undergraduate student was awarded an average scholarship of $1,567, compared to an average scholarship of $2,208 to each female student, based on information supplied by the university to the SAVE Title IX Equity Project (2).
This $641 disparity represents a violation of the Title IX regulation, which requires that “the overall effect of the award of such sex-restricted scholarships, fellowships, and other forms of financial assistance does not discriminate on the basis of sex.” (34 CFR 106.37(b)(1))
Discriminatory sex-specific scholarships are only one example of widespread Title IX violations at institutions of higher learning. Many institutions offer programs that limit participation to female students, such as engineering and information technology programs.
Currently, the federal Office for Civil Rights is investigating complaints of such discriminatory programs at the following colleges and universities: Florida Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Boston College, Brown University, University of Rhode Island, Yale University, Indiana University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, Saginaw Valley State University, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Duke University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Rochester Institute of Technology, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and University of Southern California (3).
Last week the Office for Civil Rights reached an agreement with Clemson University in South Carolina to end sex-discriminatory practices for three programs: Project WISE [Women In Science and Engineering] Summer Camp, WISE Choice, and STEM Connections (4).
In addition, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed by male students against colleges and universities alleging due process violations. To date, judges have ruled in favor of these students in 151 such cases (5).
As institutions of higher learning prepare for the new academic year, the Title IX Equity Project urges campus administrators to carefully review policies, procedures, and practices to assure male students are being treated equitably.
Citations:
- http://www.saveservices.org/equity/scholarships/
- Email dated August 15, 2019 from Kent State University Associate Counsel.
- http://www.saveservices.org/ocr-investigations/
- http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/OCR-LETTER-CLEMSON-U-8.14.2019.pdf
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CsFhy86oxh26SgTkTq9GV_BBrv5NAA5z9cv178Fjk3o/edit#gid=0