Title IX Policy Update: Where Things Stand in May 2026

Title IX is in active flux in 2026. The regulatory framework is settled at the federal level, with the 2020 Title IX regulations operative everywhere following the vacatur of the 2024 Final Rule in January 2025. But federal enforcement priorities, pending Supreme Court cases, and forecasted new rulemaking are reshaping how Title IX functions in practice. This update summarizes where Title IX stands as of May 2026 and identifies the developments that institutions, complainants, respondents, and Title IX professionals should be tracking.

Snapshot: The Current Title IX Framework

• The 2020 Title IX regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 106 are in effect nationwide
• The 2024 Final Rule was vacated by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in State of Tennessee v. Cardona on January 9, 2025
• The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is actively investigating and resolving cases under the current administration's enforcement priorities
• Multiple Title IX cases are pending before the Supreme Court that will be decided in 2026
• New federal rulemaking on Title IX and Title VI is forecasted for later in 2026

Recent OCR Activity in May 2026

This week, the Department of Education announced a Title IX investigation into the Los Angeles Unified School District based on provisions in a 2024 collective bargaining agreement that addressed the reassignment of teachers accused of misconduct. The investigation reflects the current administration's enforcement focus on institutional procedures that the Department views as protecting accused individuals at the expense of student safety. It is one of a series of high-profile OCR actions in 2026 directed at large districts, athletic associations, and universities.

OCR has also been active on the athletics front. In recent weeks, the Department's Office of General Counsel sent a letter to the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations regarding records, titles, and recognitions in women's athletics. This builds on the broader position that Title IX's prohibition on discrimination on the basis of sex applies to biological sex at birth, an interpretation that has driven enforcement throughout 2025 and 2026.

Beyond these high-profile actions, OCR has continued to enter resolution agreements with K-12 districts and postsecondary institutions across a range of civil rights issues, including disability accommodation, harassment based on shared ancestry under Title VI, and procedural compliance under Title IX.

The 2020 Regulations: A Reminder

Because the 2024 Final Rule was vacated and has no legal force in any jurisdiction, the 2020 Title IX regulations are the operative federal framework. The 2020 regulations require, among other things:

• A definition of sexual harassment limited to conduct that is severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive; quid pro quo conduct; or sexual assault as defined by federal law
• Live hearings with cross-examination through advisors at postsecondary institutions
• Specific notice requirements, written grievance procedures, and the right to inspect and review evidence gathered during the investigation
• A determination by a decisionmaker who is not the investigator or the Title IX Coordinator
• Either preponderance of the evidence or clear and convincing evidence, applied consistently across complaints involving similar parties

Institutions that updated their policies in anticipation of or under the 2024 Final Rule should have reverted to their 2020-compliant policies. Most major institutions have done so, but our experience advising parties and serving as independent investigators suggests that some institutions remain inconsistent in application, and inconsistent application is grounds for procedural challenge.

Current OCR Enforcement Priorities

The current administration's Department of Education has reoriented OCR enforcement around several priorities that are now visible in resolution agreements and new investigations:

Biological sex interpretation

OCR is enforcing Title IX based on the position that "sex" means biological sex at birth, not gender identity or sexual orientation. The vacatur of the 2024 Final Rule on First Amendment and Spending Clause grounds supports this enforcement posture. Institutions that retained 2024-era policies, particularly with respect to facility access and pronoun use, are potential enforcement targets.

Athletics

OCR has pressed institutions and athletic associations on women's sports participation. Resolutions in 2025 and 2026 have involved K-12 districts, state high school associations, and at least one Ivy League institution. The Department's position is that policies allowing male-bodied athletes to compete in women's categories violate Title IX.

Procedural compliance with the 2020 framework

OCR has been examining whether institutional procedures actually meet the 2020 framework's procedural requirements, particularly around the live hearing requirement, evidence sharing, and the impartiality of decisionmakers. Procedural shortcuts that may have been tolerated under the 2024 framework are again subject to enforcement.

Parallel Title VI enforcement

Although outside Title IX itself, OCR has been actively resolving Title VI cases involving harassment based on shared ancestry, including alleged anti-Palestinian and anti-Jewish incidents on campuses. Title IX practitioners should be aware that institutions facing scrutiny on one civil rights front are often subject to scrutiny on others.

Pending Supreme Court Cases

Two cases pending before the Supreme Court in 2026 will reshape Title IX:

West Virginia v. B.P.J. addresses whether a state law barring transgender girls from girls' sports teams violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. The Fourth Circuit found the law unconstitutional as applied. The Supreme Court's decision will determine whether and to what extent Title IX protects gender identity in athletics.

Little v. Hecox raises similar questions out of Idaho. The Court may decide these cases together or separately. Either way, the decisions will provide some clarity to the patchwork of circuit splits on whether the reasoning of Bostock v. Clayton County applies to Title IX outside the employment context.

Practitioners should not wait for the Court's decisions to act. Until and unless the Court rules, the current administration's enforcement posture and the vacated status of the 2024 rule remain controlling.

Forecasted Federal Rulemaking

The Department of Education has signaled future Title IX and Title VI rulemaking, though no Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has yet been published as of May 2026. Forecasted areas include streamlining OCR's complaint resolution process, clarifying institutional obligations on athletics, and aligning Title IX implementing regulations with the administration's interpretation of "on the basis of sex."

Any new Title IX rule will go through the formal notice-and-comment process, which takes months at minimum. Schools should not expect another sudden regulatory shift on the timeline of the 2024 rule. They should expect a more deliberate rulemaking process that gives recipients meaningful opportunity to comment.

State Law Continues to Matter

Title IX is a federal statute, but state law operates in parallel. Some states have enacted statutory protections for transgender students. Others have enacted laws restricting transgender students' participation in athletics or facility access. New York now requires every college and university in the state to appoint a Title VI Coordinator separate from any Title IX role. Ohio law and policy continue to be relevant to proceedings at Ohio institutions. Practitioners should not assume that the federal framework is the only framework that governs a given institution.

What This Means for You

For institutions

Audit your current Title IX policies to confirm they are 2020-compliant. If you retained or grafted on any 2024-era policy language, that language should be removed. Train your Title IX Coordinator and investigators on the 2020 framework. Review your athletics policies and any facility access policies for OCR exposure. Monitor new rulemaking proposals once the Department of Education publishes them.

For complainants

The current procedural framework includes the 2020 protections for the accused, including the live hearing and cross-examination requirements at postsecondary institutions. These protections can feel adversarial. An advisor who knows the framework can help you navigate it without surrendering your interests, including by ensuring the institution actually follows its procedural obligations.

For respondents

The 2020 framework's procedural protections are again in force everywhere. Among other things, you are entitled to written notice of the allegations, the right to inspect and review evidence, and the right to a live hearing with cross-examination through an advisor at postsecondary institutions. These rights matter, and institutions that cut corners are vulnerable on appeal and in subsequent federal court litigation.

For Title IX coordinators and investigators

The compliance challenges of 2024, with dual frameworks and inconsistent application across states, have given way to a single federal framework. But new pressures are emerging from OCR enforcement, particularly on athletics, facility access, and procedural rigor. Coordinators should track OCR resolution agreements as a real-time guide to enforcement priorities. Where an institution lacks internal capacity to handle a complex matter under the current framework, our firm serves as independent investigator and hearing officer for institutions nationwide.

The Bottom Line

Title IX is in active flux in 2026, but the central federal framework is settled. The 2020 regulations control everywhere. The action right now is in OCR enforcement priorities, pending Supreme Court cases, and forecasted rulemaking. Anyone navigating Title IX in 2026, whether as a Title IX professional, an institution, or a party to a proceeding, needs to operate under the 2020 framework while monitoring federal developments closely.