Iowa State is close to being in compliance with federally mandated gender equity requirements for athletics. That’s a good thing.

Most Division I schools, however, still have a long way to go to be truly gender-equitable institutions.

Since the gender equity legislation was handed down in 1972, big universities have made major strides toward gender equity. Schools all but ignored the legislation when it was first introduced, but picked up the pace about a decade ago.

Most schools are now closer — in terms of having the same percentage of female athletes as their overall female-student percentage — but closer isn’t good enough. Schools mustn’t let their recent strides toward gender equity grow stagnant.

USA Today unveiled a study last month that shows only nine Division I football schools currently comply with federal Title IX requirements — and three of those are military academies. Schools in compliance are: Air Force, Navy, Georgia Tech, Army, Washington State, Stanford, Colorado, Colorado State and Purdue.

The worst? The report says Southern Mississippi has a student body that is 56 percent female, while only 20 percent of its athletes are female. Iowa State has done considerately better. According to athletic officials, 43 percent of the student body is female, while 35.6 percent of ISU’s athletes are female.

Compared to the dismal numbers a decade ago, that’s not bad. That is not, however, the end of it. In fairness to women, gender equity must be achieved. But even when the percentages gel, and they eventually will, there will still be other issues to solve.

Not the least of which is equal funding and increased university, fan and alumni support — future battles, but ones looming nonetheless.