Finalized Biden Title IX regulations add protections for transgender students

The Biden administration on Friday unveiled a final set of sweeping changes to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at government-funded schools, after more than a year of delays and mounting pressure from advocacy groups. 

The final changes, which reinstitute protections for student survivors of sexual assault and harassment that were rolled back during the Trump administration, will take effect Aug. 1. 

“These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Friday in a statement. 

The administration’s final update to the landmark civil rights law, which also bolsters protections for LGBTQ students, was originally expected last May but was delayed several times, frustrating advocates wooed by President Biden’s campaign promise of a “quick end” to Title IX regulations instituted by Trump-era Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.