Colleges can now consider testimony outside hearings in Title IX investigations

Colleges in sexual misconduct investigations can now factor in statements made outside of a hearing when deciding the outcome of a case. That practice was previously banned under the Trump administration's rule governing Title IX. The U.S. Department of Education said it would no longer enforce that part of the Trump-era regulation. It required that investigators only account for parties' or witnesses' testimony if they participated in cross-examination. The department's shift makes official an outcome that was possible after a federal judge found the rule's provision unlawful. It's a change in practice that will apply during a period when the Biden administration works on a new Title IX regulation.