Education Department Restores 2020 Title IX Rules for Schools After Biden Rewrite Is Struck Down

The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it has formally removed the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX rule from the Code of Federal Regulations and restored the regulatory text adopted during President Donald Trump’s first term. The department said the action follows court decisions invalidating the 2024 rule.

The change makes the published regulations match the rule the department says it has enforced since January 2025. A federal district court vacated the 2024 rule nationwide on Jan. 9, 2025. Later that month, the department directed its Office for Civil Rights to enforce the 2020 rule.

Title IX, enacted in 1972, prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. It applies to public schools and colleges, as well as other covered institutions that receive federal funds.

The competing regulations addressed several questions schools face when responding to sex discrimination complaints. The 2024 rule expressly defined sex discrimination to include discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, sex stereotypes, and pregnancy or related conditions. It also changed the procedures schools used to investigate and resolve sexual harassment complaints.

Under the restored 2020 rule, colleges and universities must use live hearings in sexual harassment cases, with questions posed by the parties’ advisers. Live hearings are optional for elementary and secondary schools. The 2020 rule also uses a different definition of hostile-environment sexual harassment than the 2024 rule. These differences affect how schools investigate complaints, determine responsibility and provide support to students.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Monday’s action removes a source of confusion for parents, students and educational institutions. The department said the 2024 regulation had faced injunctions in eight courts and was later vacated by two courts. According to its announcement, the dismissal of remaining litigation last month cleared the way to restore the earlier text in the published regulations.

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The department also used Monday’s announcement to describe its broader approach to Title IX enforcement, particularly its position on women’s sports and sex-separated bathrooms and locker rooms. It cited resolution agreements with the University of Pennsylvania and Wagner College concerning athletics and facilities. The department said those agreements required changes to institutional policies and other measures affecting female athletes.

Federal officials further pointed to investigations involving education agencies and athletic organizations in California, Minnesota and Washington. The department said it has referred disputes involving California and Minnesota authorities to the Justice Department after they declined proposed resolution agreements. An investigation or referral reflects the department’s position; it does not, by itself, establish that a court found a violation.

The administration also cited funding-related actions. It said it began a proceeding to terminate federal K-12 education funding for Maine’s education department and placed five Northern Virginia school districts on reimbursement payment status while designating them “high risk” in the federal grants system.

Those investigations and funding disputes are part of the administration’s wider enforcement effort. Monday’s regulatory action has a narrower immediate effect: it removes the court-vacated 2024 text from the published federal rules and formally restores the 2020 text schools have already been directed to follow.