February 2, 2025 - Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Education sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education advising educators and administrators that the department’s Office for Civil Rights will enforce the Trump Administration’s 2020 Title IX Rule. This letter comes after Republican Attorneys General successfully challenged the Biden Administration’s 2024 Title IX rewrite, which the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled was unlawful and, therefore, unenforceable in schools, colleges, and universities nationwide. 

The department will return to enforcing Title IX protections on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses. Returning to the 2020 Title IX Rule also ends a serious threat to campus free speech and ensures much stronger due process protections for students during Title IX proceedings. 

“The Biden Administration’s failed attempt to rewrite Title IX was an unlawful abuse of regulatory power and an egregious slight to women and girls. Under the Trump Administration, the Education Department will champion equal opportunity for all Americans, including women and girls, by protecting their right to safe and separate facilities and activities in schools, colleges, and universities,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. 

Resources pertaining to the 2020 Title IX Rule, now applicable again, are available here. 

Read the full Dear Colleague Letter here.
Source: U.S. Department of Education