Education Dept. Rescinds 2024 Title IX Rule, Reinstates 2020 Regulations
The Department of Education said on September 28, 2026 that it has formally rescinded the 2024 Title IX rule and put the 2020 regulations back into the Code of Federal Regulations, reversing key obligations for schools and their counsel.
On September 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education announced it had formally rescinded the 2024 Title IX regulations and reinstated the 2020 standards in the Code of Federal Regulations. That rulemaking swaps out substantially higher procedural duties — including mandatory training, prompt and equitable complaint resolution, supportive measures, and broader definitions of sexual harassment — for a narrower framework drawn from the 2020 text.
Why sophisticated counsel should care: the operative obligations do not depend only on the text itself. The Supreme Court's 2024 partial vacatur of the 2024 rule and the Seventh Circuit's 2025 vacatur of state-actor provisions mean education clients now face a hybrid of federal regulation and binding judicial precedent, with courts already drawing lines around notice requirements and actual-knowledge standards. Reversion to 2020 text does not by itself displace those holdings, so the compliance baseline must be mapped case by case rather than assumed.
Concrete actions: reassess client Title IX policies, training, and case-management processes against the reinstated 2020 standard while cross-checking controlling circuit and Supreme Court authority; review the final rule's stated reliance and any federalism implications; and watch for litigation over the rescission, additional state-law overlays, and any agency guidance on implementation timing. Districts, higher-education institutions, and their outside counsel should also confirm exposure through vendor and construction agreements.