Sex Discrimination (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972)

On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education released its Final Rule under Title IX. The final regulations promote educational equity and opportunity for students across the country, as well as accountability and fairness, while empowering and supporting students and families. The final regulations advance Title IX's promise of ensuring that no person experiences sex discrimination, including sex-based harassment or sexual violence, in federally funded education. The final regulations restore and strengthen vital protections for students, and provide schools with information to meet their Title IX obligations while offering appropriate discretion and flexibility to account for variations in school size, student populations, and administrative structures. The final regulations also require schools to take prompt and effective action when notified of conduct that reasonably may constitute sex discrimination in their education programs or activities. The final regulations also reaffirm the Department's core commitment to fundamental fairness for all parties, the rights of parents and guardians to support their minor children, and respect for complainants' autonomy.

The final regulations are effective August 1, 2024, and apply to complaints of sex discrimination regarding conduct that occurs on or after that date.The Department is committed to supporting schools in implementing the final regulations and will provide technical assistance and additional resources to schools to support implementation and compliance.

• Unofficial version of the Department’s 2024 Title IX Final Rule PDF (4.4M)
• Fact Sheet PDF (197K)
• Summary of Major Provisions of the Department’s 2024 Title IX Final Rule PDF (327K)
• Resource for Drafting Nondiscrimination Policies, Notices of Nondiscrimination, and Grievance Procedures PDF (322K)

Disability Discrimination (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act)

On May 6, 2022, OCR announced that it intends to propose amendments to the Department’s regulations at 34 C.F.R. pt. 104, implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As part of this process, OCR is seeking written suggestions from the public about how best to improve the current regulations. It would be appreciated if longer and more detailed comments were submitted by the end of June 2022, but all comments submitted prior to the issuance of any notice of proposed rulemaking will be reviewed. Instructions and cautions are below.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Send your comments to Section504@ed.gov.
• If you are submitting attachments with your email, the Department strongly encourages you to submit attachments in Microsoft Word format. If you must submit a comment in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), the Department strongly encourages you to convert the PDF to “print-to-PDF” format, or to use some other commonly used searchable text format. Please do not submit the PDF in a scanned format. Using a print-to-PDF format allows the Department to electronically search and copy certain portions of your submissions and will make them more accessible when made available for public viewing.
• If you do not have internet access or electronic submission is not possible, you may mail written comments to: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg., 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-1100.

CAUTIONS:

• Be careful to include only information, including personal information, that you are comfortable making publicly available. The Department may make all emails and attachments received at Section504@ed.gov available for public viewing without redactions.
• Emails received at Section504@ed.gov will not be treated as complaints. If you wish to file a complaint alleging that an educational institution engaged in discrimination on the basis of disability, please follow the complaint-filing instructions available on our website.
• Do not submit questions or inquiries to Section504@ed.gov. Receipt of your email will be acknowledged, but questions and inquiries will not be responded to. Questions should be directed to OCR@ed.gov.
• Do not submit comments focused on OCR’s handling of particular pending complaints filed with OCR to Section504@ed.gov. They will not be individually responded to. Such comments should be directed to the appropriate OCR regional office responsible for the complaint.

Regulations