NEW RULE STRENGTHENS TITLE IX PROTECTIONS FOR ALL STUDENTS

May 15, 2020

On May 6, the U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) took historic action to strengthen Title IX protections for survivors of sexual misconduct and to restore due process in campus proceedings to ensure all students can pursue an education free from sex discrimination. For the first time ever, the Department's Title IX regulations define sexual harassment, including sexual assault, as unlawful sex discrimination. The new Title IX regulation holds schools accountable for failure to respond equitably and promptly to sexual misconduct incidents and ensures a more reliable adjudication process that is fair to all students. The new regulation comes after years of wide-ranging research, careful deliberation, and critical input from survivors, advocates, falsely accused students, school administrators, Title IX coordinators, and the American people, including over 124,000 public comments.

The unofficial version of the final rule is available here: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/titleix-regs-unofficial.pdf

The follow technical assistance materials are also available:

• Title IX: Fact Sheet: Final Title IX Regulations  PDF (209K)
• Title IX: U.S. Department of Education Title IX Final Rule Overview  PDF (553K)
• Title IX: Summary of Major Provisions of the Department of Education’s Title IX Final Rule  PDF (675K)
• Title IX: Summary of Major Provisions of the Department of Education’s Title IX Final Rule and Comparison to the NPRM  PDF (706K)
• OCR Webinar: Title IX Regulations Addressing Sexual Harassment (Length: 01:11:29) 05/06/2020

OCR’s Center for Outreach, Prevention, Education, and Nondiscrimination (“OPEN Center”) will continue to provide updates regarding technical assistance and other important information as needed on the OCR blog.
If you have further questions for OCR, want additional information, or require technical assistance, please contact T9questions@ed.gov