PRESS RELEASE
Rebecca Stewart: 513-479-3335
Email: info@saveservices.org
233 Investigations of Colleges for Sex-Discriminatory Programs and Scholarships
WASHINGTON / February 15, 2021 – The federal Office for Civil Rights has announced that it currently has 233 open investigations of programs and scholarships that allegedly discriminate against male students (1). The sex-bias complaints have been submitted by a variety of individuals and groups, including the SAVE Title IX Equity Project.
The sex-discriminating universities are located in 47 states across the country. These states are listed at the bottom of this press release, along with the number of institutions in each state under investigation. The states with the largest number of colleges under investigation are Pennsylvania (22 institutions), California (19), New York (16), and Ohio (10).
Last week, for example, it was reported that OCR has opened an investigation of the BOLD Leadership program at Ithaca College, which “requires that applicants identify as women.” (2) The University of Missouri – Columbia offers 70 scholarships for female students, and one for male students. The scholarship for male students, the Eric G. Rowe Scholarship Fund, is reserved for “deserving farm boys,” according to a description on the university website (3).
Sex-discrimination in higher education appears to be widespread. A review of North Carolina’s largest colleges concluded that discrimination on the basis of sex is “rampant.” “In the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion, North Carolina universities have often chosen inequity and exclusion,” author Adam Kissel ironically comments (4).
A number of the institutions have eliminated their sex-discriminatory programs (5). But many of the OCR investigations were opened over six months ago, revealing that some universities may be resisting efforts to assure equal opportunity for all students.
The federal Title IX law states, “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.” On January 14, the Department of Education released a guidance that re-affirms the ban on sex discrimination, stating, “a school may not administer scholarships, fellowships or other forms of financial assistance that impose a preference or restriction on the basis of sex, with limited exceptions.” (6)
Female students now represent 56% of all undergraduate students, compared to 44% male students (7). Male students are under-represented in numerous fields such as the health professions, public administration, education, and others (8).
To avoid government sanctions, SAVE urges university officials to take steps to assure sex-discriminatory programs and scholarships are promptly removed.
Listing of States with Universities Under Investigation for Sex-Discriminatory Programs
- AL – 5 universities
- AR – 3
- AZ – 4
- CA – 19
- CO – 3
- CT – 3
- DC – 2
- DE – 1
- FL – 9
- GA – 4
- HI – 1
- IA – 4
- ID – 5
- KS – 6
- KY – 7
- LA – 2
- MA – 4
- MD – 5
- ME – 1
- MI – 1
- MN – 8
- MO – 4
- MT – 4
- NC – 3
- ND – 1
- NE – 3
- NH – 2
- NJ – 5
- NV – 3
- NY – 16
- OH – 10
- OK – 2
- OR – 4
- PA – 22
- SC – 2
- SD – 2
- TN – 3
- TX – 3
- UT – 5
- VA – 9
- VT – 1
- WA – 4
- WI – 9
- WV – 2
- WY – 2
Citations:
- https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/open-investigations/tix.html In the Type of Discrimination box, select “Title IX – Single Sex Campus Programs” or “Title IX – Single Sex Scholarships”
- https://theithacan.org/news/bold-program-under-investigation-for-title-ix-complaint/
- https://endowedscholarships.missouri.edu/EndowmentPublicInfo.aspx?id=2344
- https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2020/12/pervasive-sex-discrimination-at-north-carolina-universities/
- https://www.saveservices.org/equity/case-resolutions/
- https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/qa-single-sex-20210114.pdf
- https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cha.asp#:~:text=In%20fall%202018%2C%20female%20students,trends%20between%202000%20and%202018
- https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/table-of-the-day-bachelors-degrees-by-field-and-gender-for-the-class-of-2015/