According to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, “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.” In terms of athletic opportunities for women, the regulations called for equal opportunity, not equal funding, and addressed issues such as the selection of sports, provision of equipment and supplies, scheduling of games and practice time, provision of locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities, and opportunity to receive coaching and academic tutoring. Vocal in its opposition to Title IX, the NCAA argued for an exemption for the major revenue sports – football and basketball.
On May 27, 1975, President Ford signed regulations to implement Title IX and sent them to Congress for its review. Title IX applied to 16,000 school districts and 2,700 institutions of higher education that received federal aid. Once in effect, elementary schools had one year to comply with the regulations and all other schools three.