Following are four of the most frequently asked questions and answers the Office
for Civil Rights, Department of Education (OCR) receives regarding the
application of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) to
single-sex schools, classes and programs.
Does Title IX prohibit single-sex elementary and secondary schools?
OCR always remains open to instructional approaches that will help improve
student academic achievement, provided that equal, high quality educational
opportunities are guaranteed for all.
Accordingly, Title IX permits single-sex, nonvocational public schools, so long
as pursuant to the same policies and criteria of admission, comparable
facilities, courses, and services are made available to the excluded sex.
The Title IX regulation's voluntary affirmative action provision also permits
single-sex schools to overcome conditions that have resulted in limited
participation by sex.
Does Title IX prohibit single-sex classrooms and programs in coeducational
elementary and secondary schools?
With some exceptions the Title IX regulations generally prohibit single-sex
classrooms and programs in coeducational schools. The exceptions to the general
prohibition are: contact sports offered in physical education classes; chorus,
when based on vocal requirements or quality; and, portions of classes dealing
with human sexuality. Separate classes may be provided for pregnant students,
but must be voluntary. Single-sex classes are also permitted to overcome
conditions that have resulted in limited participation by sex.
How does all of this apply in the postsecondary context? Does the law prohibit
single-sex postsecondary schools?
Title IX does not cover admissions to private undergraduate institutions.
Title IX generally prohibits public undergraduate single-gender schools unless
it has been single-sex since the school's creation.
Title IX also does not cover admissions to educational institutions whose
primary purpose is to train students for the military service of the United
States or for the merchant marines, or is controlled by a religious organization
and admission of the other sex is inconsistent with religious tenets of the
organization.
Does Title IX prohibit single-sex programs and classes in the postsecondary
context?
The Title IX regulations generally prohibit single-sex classrooms and programs
in coeducational postsecondary schools. The exceptions to the general
prohibition are: housing, contact sports offered in physical education classes;
chorus, when based on vocal requirements or quality. Single-sex classes are
also permitted to overcome conditions that have resulted in limited
participation by sex.
Useful background information may also be found in the GAO Report to the
Chairman, Committee on the Budget, House of Representatives, entitled: Public
Education: Issues Involving Single-Gender Schools and Programs (May, 1996)
(GAO/HEHS-96-122).
Jan D. Gray,
Attorney, Program Legal Component, Title IX,
Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education
jan_gray@ed.gov