Title IX: The 2020 framework is the framework

The question I hear most from coordinators is some version of “which rule are we under now?” The answer, as of mid-2026, is settled enough to build on. The regulations currently in effect are the 2020 Title IX regulations, after a federal district court vacated the 2024 rewrite. If your grievance procedures, definitions, and training materials still carry 2024-era language, that is not a style problem. It is a compliance problem.

The enforcement posture around the 2020 framework has also shifted. In April 2026, OCR rescinded provisions of resolution agreements from prior administrations, stating that Title IX protections are based on sex and that the Department will no longer monitor or enforce those agreement terms. Separately, Executive Order 14201 directed the Department to prioritize Title IX enforcement against schools that allow transgender girls and women to compete on girls’ and women’s athletic teams, and investigations and funding-related actions have followed. A regulation that had required federally funded sports programs to let students try out for teams of the opposite sex was rescinded through a direct final rule in May 2025.

What this means for your institution: audit your current policy against the 2020 regulations line by line, revisit any commitments your institution made under now-rescinded resolution agreements with counsel before assuming they are void, and document your athletics eligibility policies with particular care. Enforcement priorities change. The obligation to run a prompt, equitable process does not.

Trust, operationalized.