Why do NCAA Hockey programs have to follow Article 9, while ACHA Hockey programs don't?

Question

Schools like UNLV, BYU, Colorado are Top Tier NCAA schools, receive Federal funding (per the guidelines of Article 9), yet offer no scholarships in Hockey, Lacrosse, or others and as such can't compete with BC or Harvard or Michigan for the NCAA title, but have their own Conference - the ACHA - that is somehow exempt from Article 9.

Answer 1

BYU, a private university, receives federal funds for sports?

No Ivy League school offers any sports scholarships at all. Not even for football. It's against the conference rules.

I don't know. Are you referring to Title 9, about women's sports funding? That could have something to do with it, but I really don't know.

Answer 2

Schools with ACHA teams are not exempt from Title IX.  An individual team does not follow Title IX, the school must meet the requirement based on all of the opportunities it provides.  Title IX is not an NCAA rule, it is a federal law and applies to high school as well as college level sports.  A school with a Varsity or ACHA team is not required to have a women's hockey team in order to meet the Title IX requirements, they are only required to have a proportionate number of athletic opportunities available for women.  I have enclosed a link to the most recent worksheet used to determine Title IX compliance.  You would need far more information about any individual school in order to determine whether a school is compliant than whether they have a club level hockey program.  Another catch to that is that ACHA permits women to play along side of the boys which throws an extra wrinkle into the equation.  

The ACHA is a club, not a varsity sport.  This places them in the category of the chess club or the french club, any activity that the school offers that they do not offer scholarships for.  They may or may not be effected by Title IX, there are a few deciding factors but the key one is the school's involvement with the team.  

Some examples: Penn State, Delaware and Rhode Island.  All are very well funded by the school if not entirely.  These schools have their Title IX numbers directly effected by their teams because the school funds the team, they practice/play on school owned facilities and all have coaching and other team staff provided by the school.  

These schools take a larger hit than a school like LaSalle University's hockey program.  LaSalle is not recognized by the school and is entirely run and funded by the students playing.  They have no access to the school's facilities for team activities.  Schools that fall into that category will have little if any effect the school's Title IX numbers.