Last week, the U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) issued a new final rule formally repealing the Biden Administration’s 2024 Title IX regulations and restoring the regulatory framework that existed before those regulations were adopted. The rule was published in the Federal Register on September 29, 2026, by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and became effective immediately. 

According to the Department, the move is intended to align the Code of Federal Regulations with the legal framework that has been in effect since early 2025, after multiple federal courts enjoined and later vacated the 2024 regulations nationwide. The Department had already been enforcing the pre-2024 regulations for more than a year and a half before issuing this rule. 

For colleges and universities, the practical significance is less about a new compliance mandate and more about regulatory certainty. The regulations now formally reflect the framework institutions have largely been required to follow since the 2024 rule was struck down. 

Has anything really changed?
Although the Department characterized the recodification as largely administrative, the final rule includes several limited revisions to the prior regulatory text. Most notably, the Department did not restore a provision that had prohibited postsecondary decision-makers from relying on statements from parties or witnesses who refused to submit to cross-examination at a live hearing. That provision had previously been vacated by a federal court. The rule also removes several obsolete references and outdated compliance deadlines. 

The Department also used the preamble to reiterate its current interpretation of Title IX regarding sex-separated facilities and athletics, although the regulatory text itself largely mirrors the pre-2024 framework. 

Why does this matter?
Many institutions have spent the past several years revising policies, procedures, training materials, and investigation processes as Title IX requirements shifted through multiple rounds of regulatory rulemaking and litigation challenges. For higher education institutions, the immediate compliance burden will likely be fairly limited because most colleges already reverted to the 2020 framework after the nationwide vacatur of the 2024 regulations. However, organizations should not assume that no review is necessary. Policies, forms, website materials, training programs, notices, and grievance procedures may still contain references to the 2024 regulations or concepts drawn from that regulatory framework.

Are more important moves coming soon?
The rule also signals that the Department remains actively engaged in Title IX rulemaking. Several commentators have noted that the Department’s regulatory agenda contemplates additional future revisions, including potential changes involving the definition of “sex” and OCR enforcement procedures. Those moves could include efforts to align Title IX regulations with President Trump’s prior executive order regarding his Administration’s intention to enforce a definition of “sex” that refers only to biological sex at the time of birth. Yet the scope and timing of any such future regulatory amendments remain uncertain. 

What should institutions consider doing now? 

• Review Title IX policies, procedures, and grievance processes to confirm they reflect the currently operative regulatory framework rather than the vacated 2024 regulations. 
• Audit training materials used for Title IX coordinators, investigators, hearing officers, appeals officers, administrators, and employees. 
• Update handbook language, website disclosures, reporting information, and other public-facing materials that may still reference the 2024 rule. 
• Evaluate ongoing investigations and pending matters to ensure the correct procedural framework is being applied.
• Review hearing procedures and decision-making protocols in light of the changes involving the previously vacated cross-examination provision. 
• Coordinate Title IX compliance efforts with state-law requirements, which may impose obligations beyond the federal regulations. This is particularly important for institutions in Pennsylvania because the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has taken several stances at odds with the Trump Administration’s positions regarding sex discrimination prohibitions.
• Monitor future Department of Education rulemaking and OCR guidance for additional changes affecting Title IX compliance. 

For most educational institutions, the new final rule will not create a new compliance regime, but it does provide greater clarity regarding the Title IX framework the Department expects institutions to follow.

If your institution needs assistance with Title IX compliance issues, please feel free to contact attorneys David Freedman, Sarah Doyle or any member of Barley Snyder’s Higher Education Industry Group.