Acosta/Carpenter Women in Intercollegiate Sport A Longitudinal, National Study Thirty-Five Year Update: 1977-2012

 In 2012, forty years after the enactment of Title IX, there are an average of 8.73 womenʼs teams per school and a total of about 200,000 female intercollegiate athletes: the highest in history.

In 1970, prior to the 1972 enactment of Title IX, there were only 2.5 womenʼs teams per school and only about 16,000 total female intercollegiate athletes. In 1977/1978, the academic year preceding the mandatory compliance date for Title
IX, the number of varsity sports for women had grown to 5.61 per school.

A decade later, in 1988, the number had grown to 7.71 and at the turn of the century, the growth continued to 8.14.
Today, in 2012, the average number of womenʼs teams per school sets an all time record of 8.73 giving weight to the adage: “If you build it, they will come.”