Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Honors Thesis (Open Access)

Department

Colby College. Economics Dept.

Advisor(s)

Dave Findlay

Second Advisor

Dan LaFave

Abstract

Amid a period of rapid transformation in college athletics, gender equity and Title IX remain underemphasized in the discourse. This study investigates disparities in athletic expenditure by gender, finding that in 2022, Division I institutions spent approximately $1.30 on men’s teams for every $1.00 spent on women’s teams. While Title IX does not mandate equal spending, it does require that schools provide equitable experiences for male and female student-athletes. The persistence and magnitude of an expenditure gap call into question if schools are continuing to meet Title IX. This study identifies the characteristics of schools associated with less equal expenditure using data from the Equity in Athletics Database (EADA) and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from 2014-2022. I find that the presence of a football program is associated with more equal spending both across the full sample and within Divisions I and III. Conversely, schools with higher acceptance rates, smaller athletic departments (as measured by the number of athletes), lower enrollments, lower tuition levels, and liberal arts colleges tend to be less equal in their expenditures.

Keywords

Title IX, college athletics, athletic expenditure, sports economics, Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, higher education policy, house settlement

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