The government agency responsible for enforcing gender equity in college sports is falling down on the job, according to a report released by the National Women's Law Center. Over the past five years, the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights -- the administrative guardian of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the law that prohibits sex discrimination at institutions that receive federal funds -- has cut back sharply in the number of athletics programs it evaluates. In some cases, the report says, the agency has taken up to four years to resolve complaints, by which time the students who faced discrimination have graduated. The report's findings could help shift the focus in the fight over equal opportunities for female college athletes. More women than ever are participating in college sports and female athletes' share of scholarship dollars continues to increase, according to the latest Education Department data. But poor treatment of women persists and some athletics programs still discriminate against female athletes when it comes to playing opportunities, says the law center's report. A lack of a chance to play was another common reason for lodging a Title IX complaint, the report says. Thirty-five percent of complaints against colleges noted an absence of overall athletic opportunities or sufficient interest in a sport the college did not offer. The report also criticizes the Office for Civil Rights for focusing its reviews on procedural compliance issues, such as whether institutions have a Title IX coordinator or have distributed their grievance procedures to athletes, rather than investigating potentially broader problems in athletics departments. At a hearing before a subcommittee of the House Education Committee, Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, recommended more Congressional oversight of the civil-rights office. The center also has other suggestions. Along with its report on administrative enforcement, "Barriers to Fair Play," it released a legal guide to Title IX, "Breaking Down Barriers," both of which are available on its Web site. (Contains 3 tables.)