The federal government successfully sued the public institution Virginia Military Institute, challenging the constitutionality of the Institute's exclusion of female students. The VMI, Virginia Military Institute, had a strict tradition of only allowing male public undergraduates a higher education. This was a violation of the 14th Amendment, therefore a program for women was made called Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership (VWIL).

Roderick Jackson, a teacher in the public school system, brought a suit against the Birmingham Board of Education because of the gender discrimination at Ensley High School in Alabama. He was a P.E teacher for Ensley's girls basketball team and happened to discover the unequal funding amounts of each team based on their genders. Jackson tried to fix the problem by complaining to the school, but it just led to him receiving negative remarks and eventually being removed as coach. The US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama dismissed Jackson's claims on the situation.

The Women's Education Equality Act was a law passed by the United States Congress outlining federal protections against the gender discrimination of women in education. It is also known as the WEEA program enacted by Congress in 1974. Prior to this act women were regularly discriminated against in schools. In 1970 about 8 percent of women graduated from college. This was due to countless hurdles placed in front of women in education. Prior to this act, there were quotas for the number of women that could be accepted in certain prestigious colleges. Once these women were accepted they had to face constant restrictions and exclusions. Whether they were a student or a faculty member these women had to face everlasting discrimination due to their sex. The objective of this act is to make education more equitable for girls and women by providing incentives and assistance to educational institutions and community groups.