/education-data-source-eada

name: education-data-source-eada
description: >-
  EADA — college athletics gender equity (~2,000+ institutions, 2002-2021). Participation, coaching, salaries, expenses, revenues, athletic aid by gender. Not Title IX compliance data. No sector column; join IPEDS on unitid for institution type.
metadata:
  audience: any-agent
  domain: data-source
  skill-authored: "2026-02-09"
  skill-last-updated: "2026-02-09"

EADA Data Source Reference

Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) data for college athletics gender equity analysis covering ~2,000+ institutions (2002-2021). Use when analyzing athletic participation, coaching staff, salaries, expenses, revenues, or athletic aid by gender at colleges/universities, or understanding Title IX context in athletics. EADA is NOT Title IX compliance data. Note: no sector column; join to IPEDS on unitid to filter by institution type.

The EADA provides the only standardized, publicly available dataset on college athletics participation, coaching, finances, and athletic aid by gender across ~2,000+ postsecondary institutions, enabling gender equity analysis in intercollegiate athletics.

> **CRITICAL: Value Encoding** > > EADA data from the Education Data Portal uses **integer codes** for categorical > variables. Original EADA web tools use string labels; the Portal converts these > to integers. Always verify codes against the codebook (see Truth Hierarchy below). > > | Context | `ath_classification_code` | Missing values | > |---------|--------------------------|----------------| > | **Portal (integers)** | `1` = NCAA DI FBS | `-1`, `-2`, `-3` | > | Original EADA | String labels | Blank / N/A | > > **Note:** There is no `sector` column in EADA Portal data. To filter by sector, > join with IPEDS directory data on `unitid`. > > See `./references/variable-definitions.md` for complete encoding tables.

What is EADA?

• **Collector**: U.S. Department of Education (Office of Postsecondary Education)
• **Coverage**: ~2,000+ coeducational postsecondary institutions with intercollegiate athletics
• **Mandate**: Institutions participating in Title IV aid with athletic programs must report
• **Frequency**: Annual (data publicly available by October 15 each year)
• **Available years**: 2002–2021 (Portal mirror)
• **Primary identifier**: `unitid` (6-digit IPEDS institution ID)
• **Content**: Athletic participation, coaching staff, salaries, expenses, revenues, and athletic aid — all reported by gender
• **Available through**: Education Data Portal mirrors

Reference File Structure

| File | Purpose | When to Read | |------|---------|--------------| | `title-ix-context.md` | Legal framework, gender equity requirements | Understanding policy context | | `data-elements.md` | Participation, coaches, salaries, expenses, revenues | Identifying available variables | | `sport-level-data.md` | Data available by individual sport | Sport-specific analysis | | `variable-definitions.md` | Key variables, codes, special values | Interpreting specific data elements | | `limitations.md` | Data quality issues, comparability, self-reporting caveats | Assessing data reliability | | `fetch-patterns.md` | Mirror URLs and fetch code patterns | Fetching data |

Decision Trees

What analysis am I conducting?

Research question?
├─ Gender equity overview → Start with participation + aid ratios
│   └─ See ./references/data-elements.md
├─ Coaching disparities → Coach counts + salaries by gender
│   └─ See ./references/data-elements.md (Coaching section)
├─ Financial investment → Expenses + revenues by team gender
│   └─ See ./references/data-elements.md (Financial section)
├─ Sport-specific analysis → Individual sport data
│   └─ See ./references/sport-level-data.md
├─ Title IX compliance assessment → CAUTION: EADA ≠ compliance data
│   └─ See ./references/limitations.md (Critical)
└─ Trend analysis → Year-over-year comparisons
    └─ See ./references/fetch-patterns.md

What variables do I need?

Variable categories?
├─ Participation counts
│   ├─ Unduplicated by gender → `undup_athpartic_men`, `undup_athpartic_women`
│   ├─ Duplicated (sport-level sum) → `athpartic_men`, `athpartic_women`
│   ├─ Coed teams → `athpartic_coed_men`, `athpartic_coed_women`
│   └─ By sport → See ./references/sport-level-data.md
├─ Coaching
│   ├─ Head coaches → `men_fthdcoach_*`, `women_fthdcoach_*` variables
│   ├─ Assistant coaches → `men_ftascoach_*`, `women_ftascoach_*` variables
│   └─ Salaries → `hdcoach_salary_*`, `ascoach_salary_*` variables
├─ Financial
│   ├─ Expenses → `ath_exp_*` variables
│   ├─ Revenues → `ath_rev_*` variables
│   └─ Athletic aid → `ath_stuaid_*` variables
└─ Detailed definitions → See ./references/variable-definitions.md

How do I interpret the data?

Interpretation question?
├─ What counts as "participation"?
│   └─ See ./references/variable-definitions.md
├─ Why don't participation ratios match enrollment?
│   └─ See ./references/limitations.md
├─ Is this institution Title IX compliant?
│   └─ CANNOT determine from EADA data alone
│       └─ See ./references/limitations.md (Critical)
├─ Why are some values missing or zero?
│   └─ See ./references/limitations.md
└─ How do I compare across institutions?
    └─ See ./references/limitations.md (Comparability section)

Quick Reference: Key Metrics

Participation Equity Indicators

| Metric | Calculation | Interpretation | |--------|-------------|----------------| | Female participation ratio | `undup_athpartic_women / (undup_athpartic_men + undup_athpartic_women)` | Compare to female enrollment ratio | | Participation gap | Female enrollment % - Female participation % | Positive = underrepresentation | | Opportunities per student | `undup_athpartic_total / enrollment_total` | Athletic opportunity rate |

Financial Equity Indicators

| Metric | Calculation | Notes | |--------|-------------|-------| | Aid ratio | `ath_stuaid_women / (ath_stuaid_men + ath_stuaid_women)`