It grew out of the civil rights and feminist movements in the late 50's, 60's, and early 70's. As the women's civil rights movement gained momentum in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Americans began to focus attention on inequities that inhibited the progress of women and girls in education. The issue of sex bias in education moved into the public policy realm when Representative Edith Green (Oregon) introduced a higher education bill with provisions regarding sex equity. The hearings that Green held were the first ever devoted to this topic and are considered the first legislative step toward the enactment of Title IX. .
Congressional activity on the issue increased, and in 1971 several education bills that included sex discrimination proposals were introduced in the House. In the Senate amendments to an education proposal outlawed sex discrimination in higher education programs. In total, five proposals made to end sex discrimination in education. Although there was growing agreement that sex discrimination in education should end, there was little agreement as to the best methods for reaching that goal. It took a House-Senate Conference Committee several months to settle on the more than 250 differences between the House and Senate education bills, 11 of which spoke to sex discrimination. The final legislation--the provision against sex discrimination--became Title IX. .
Title IX was adopted by the Conference Committee and sent to the full Senate, which approved it on May 22, 1972. It then went to the House, and was passed on June 8. President Nixon signed Title IX on June 23, and on July 1 it went into effect. While developing the implementing regulations for Title IX, the then U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare received more than 9,700 comments. The final regulations were published on July 20, 1974. President Gerald Ford signed the Title IX regulations on May 27, 1975 and they were then submitted to Congress for review.