SDSU Settles With Female Athletes Over Scholarships

San Diego State University will pay a $300,000 settlement, plus $1.3 million in attorneys’ fees, to almost 800 female student athletes who claimed they had received less scholarship money than they should have, in violation of Title IX, The San Diego Union Tribune reported.

SDSU did not admit any wrongdoing in the class action lawsuit, which was first filed in 2022 and argued that the deficit in women’s athletic scholarships dated back over a decade. According to the Union Tribune, it is the first time a university will pay students over unequal athletic scholarships.

The institution also agreed to an independent gender-equity review of its athletics department.

The students’ attorney praised the settlement as “a huge victory” that could lead to similar agreements at other institutions where female athletes have allegedly been underawarded scholarships.

In a statement, SDSU wrote that the settlement is “non-precedential” and reiterated that it did not violate Title IX.

“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,” the statement said. “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.”