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Dear Colleague Letter

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY



Page 5
  1. Nondiscriminatory Methods of Assessment

Under Part Three, OCR evaluates whether an institution uses processes and methods for assessing the athletic interests and abilities of its students of the underrepresented sex that are consistent with the nondiscrimination standards set forth in the 1979 Policy Interpretation. The 1979 Policy Interpretation states that institutions may determine the athletic interests and abilities of students by nondiscriminatory methods of their choosing provided:

  1. The processes take into account the nationally increasing levels of women's interests and abilities;

  2. The methods of determining interest and ability do not disadvantage the members of an underrepresented sex;

  3. The methods of determining ability take into account team performance records; and

  4. The methods are responsive to the expressed interests of students capable of intercollegiate competition who are members of an underrepresented sex.13

An institution should document its assessment of students’ interests and abilities.

  1. Assessments Not Used To Eliminate Viable Teams

As discussed in the 1996 Clarification, if an institution recently has eliminated a viable team for the underrepresented sex from the intercollegiate athletics program, OCR will find that there is sufficient interest, ability, and available competition to sustain an intercollegiate team in that sport and thus there would be a presumption that the institution is not in compliance with Part Three. This presumption can be overcome if the institution can provide strong evidence that interest, ability, or competition no longer exists.

Accordingly, OCR does not consider the failure by students to express interest during a survey under Part Three as evidence sufficient to justify the elimination of a current and viable intercollegiate team for the underrepresented sex. In other words, students participating on a viable intercollegiate team have expressed interest by active participation, and OCR does not use survey results to nullify that expressed interest.

  1. Multiple Indicators Evaluated to Assess Interest

OCR considers a broad range of indicators to assess whether there is unmet athletic interest among the underrepresented sex. These indicators guide OCR in determining whether the institution has measured the interests of students of the underrepresented sex using nondiscriminatory methods consistent with the 1979 Policy Interpretation. As discussed in the

13 44 Fed. Reg. at 71417.



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Last Modified: 01/10/2020