San Diego State University has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a class action lawsuit brought by a group of female student- athletes who claimed the school deprived them of equal athletic financial aid in violation of Title IX.
The settlement approved Monday by a San Diego federal judge ends what the plaintiffs' attorneys said was the first case to recover class-wide damages from a school for allegedly depriving its female athletes of equal athletic financial aid. It also included what U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson wrote was an "unprecedented monetary award."
In a statement, plaintiffs' lead counsel Arthur Bryant said, "These women have made history. This is the first school to pay class-wide damages to female athletes for discriminating against them in violation of Title IX. But it sure won't be the last."
Among the settlement terms are an agreement from SDSU to ensure Title IX compliance by the end of the 2026-27 academic year, hire an outside expert to conduct a gender equity review, and develop a gender equity plan.
SDSU maintained that the school did not violate Title IX and noted the judge did not make any determination regarding which side had prevailed in the case.
"The settlement expressly states that any payments are non-precedential and are not an agreement that student-athletes are entitled to damages," the school's statement said. "SDSU does not discriminate against its female student-athletes. Its funding level for women's scholarships is a point of pride. The university supports and promotes its female student- athletes, and is proud of their accomplishments. Throughout the history of our program, our female student-athletes have represented a wide range of sports and are high achievers both on and off the field."
The lawsuit filed in 2022 by more than a dozen former and then-current SDSU student-athletes alleged female athletes were illegally denied aid, as Title IX requires schools to grant athletic financial aid in amounts proportional to male and female athletic participation rates.
The lawsuit claimed that 57.22% of SDSU student-athletes were female in the 2020-21 year, so they should have received 57.22% of the athletic financial aid awarded, but actually received 50.64%. The plaintiffs' attorneys said this amounted to SDSU's then-305 female varsity-student athletes getting around $570,000 less than they should have.
"This lawsuit should not have been necessary, but SDSU refused to give women athletes the equal athletic aid, treatment and benefits they deserve and Title IX requires," plaintiff Carina Clark, a former track and field athlete, said in a statement released Tuesday.
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