WASHINGTON, September 30, 2026 – The U.S. Department of Education has now overturned the 2024 Title IX regulations under the Biden administration and reverted back to the 2020 regulations, establishing what officials in the government claim are rules that schools have been using since early 2025.
While it may be seen as a change in wording within the regulations, it isn’t viewed as a drastic change in terms of implementation since the courts have already blocked the 2024 regulations from being implemented throughout the nation.
“Nothing changes in practice for individual students, parents, and teachers,” the U.S. Department of Education noted in an accompanying fact sheet, pointing out that federal courts had already struck down the 2024 rewrite nationwide.
For schools and colleges, the change won’t be as dramatic as it sounds. Federal courts had already prevented the 2024 rule from being implemented nationwide, and the Education Department has been enforcing the 2020 rule since then.
Title IX, which is the 1972 federal civil rights legislation, is still standing. This legislation prohibits sex discrimination against educational programs and activities that receive federal funding. What has been modified is the interpretation and the process through which the prohibition has been applied.
The 2024 regulation by the Biden administration adopted a more inclusive view toward sex discrimination. It stated that sex-based harassment can involve behavior that targets sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy and associated circumstances, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Under the restored version of the 2020 rules, the definition of sexual harassment is more limited. It includes quid pro quo harassment, specific types of severe and pervasive behavior that deny someone access to an educational program or activity, and certain serious acts like sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. The guidelines also provide for a formal complaint process and due process rights for the accused.
Linda McMahon, the Education Secretary, justified the revision as a necessary fix for what she termed an “unlawful rewriting” of the guidelines by the department. According to her, restoring the old guidelines will make things easier for schools, parents, and students without taking away the department’s power to enforce Title IX.
According to the department, the regulations set forth in 2024 have been declared invalid after several legal battles. In this context, a federal district court in Kentucky revoked the regulations in January 2025, and the department claimed that the regulations issued during the Biden administration had become invalid in all jurisdictions. According to the department’s version, the rest of the legal battle was dismissed in August 2026, as stated in the University Herald article.
However, the decision is viewed differently by civil rights activists. “Title IX is, quite simply, about protecting students and ensuring that they are safe from abuse, harassment, and discrimination while they pursue their education. But Donald Trump and his cronies aren’t interested in any of that,” said Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign.
That disagreement goes to the heart of the Title IX fight. Supporters of the 2020 rules say the framework protects due process and follows the statute’s original meaning. Critics say the narrower approach excludes or weakens safeguards for LGBTQ+ students, pregnant students, and others whose complaints were covered more explicitly by the 2024 regulation.
And so the policy pendulum swings again.
As far as schools receiving federal funding, the message is quite simple – keep following the 2020 Title IX rules. Schools have to deal with complaints of sex discrimination and sexual harassment according to the procedure set out in the rules and be consistent with the prohibition contained therein.
At the same time, the legal and political discussion is far from being over. There will probably be more challenges from states, civil rights organizations, schools, and parents regarding how Title IX rules should be applied.
The law survived. The rulebook changed.
