Trump’s Title IX repeal restores common sense to higher education
by Terry Schilling · The Washington TimesOPINION:
Common sense has been lacking in higher education for some time, as seen in the rampant politicization that has driven colleges deeper into the trench of wokeism and students away from four-year universities.
Despite the system’s decay, the Trump administration has taken a critical step toward a return to normal in higher education.
The latest: a rescission of the Biden-era Title IX regulatory rewrite.
People were interested in these podcasts
Under President Biden, men were allowed to dominate women’s sports, and freedom of speech was rolled back, creating an open season on students who “misgender” their peers.
Under the current administration, Title IX has been returned to its original purpose: to prohibit sex-based discrimination, not to serve as a hall pass for men to use women’s locker rooms or participate in women’s athletics.
Public support for Title IX, through this lens, is overwhelming. A January 2025 New York Times/Ipsos poll found that 79% of Americans believe that athletes should compete only on teams matching their biological sex.
The Title IX move further reaffirms the Trump administration’s commitment to restoring the mission of higher education: instilling in students the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed and lead in today’s rapidly evolving economy.
However, as I have written before, policing all schools all the time is a Sisyphean task. It is impossible to corral all the universities running roughshod over students’ rights. This is especially true when the higher-ed rule book is designed to protect the status quo and corner students into brand-name, bricks-and-mortar colleges, even though these are often a bad fit for students’ career and learning needs.
Advertisement Advertisement
The administration and Republican leaders in Congress realize that making college work for today’s students requires innovation and school choice. Both are working to clean the house of outdated regulations that impede those qualities.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump last year, established meaningful, consistent performance standards to hold all colleges more accountable for student outcomes.
Now, policymakers are working to implement these new measures.
Earlier this year, the Department of Education moved to replace the traditional gainful employment rule — which required career colleges to demonstrate that graduates earn more than non-degree holders — with updated standards established through negotiated rulemaking. Meanwhile, public and private universities continued peddling worthless degrees.
Research shows that if the rule were applied uniformly across all types of schools, public and private four-year colleges and universities would account for 80% to 90% of failing programs.
Advertisement Advertisement
The department’s negotiated rulemaking replaced the gainful employment regulation with a fair, uniform “earnings premium” metric. This requires all schools — not just career-education institutions — to show that their graduates can expect to earn more.
This year, Sen. Jim Banks, Indiana Republican, introduced the PARITY Act in the Senate in April. Rep. Mark Harris, North Carolina Republican, followed with a House companion bill in July. The legislation would permanently repeal the 90/10 rule — another regulatory relic that singled out career colleges.
Like the gainful employment rule, the 90/10 rule turned a blind eye to woke programs saddling students with enormous amounts of debt while failing to improve career prospects.
About 40% of programs at public four-year colleges would run afoul of the 90/10 rule if applied uniformly across all types of institutions, but it was not applied uniformly. Regulators narrowly leveled it only against proprietary schools.
Advertisement Advertisement
The PARITY Act, endorsed by my organization, the American Principles Project, promises to foster more competition and choice for students in all walks of life, especially low-income, minority, veteran and nontraditional students.
“Currently, the 90/10 rule singles out vocational and career schools, while letting other colleges play by a different set of standards,” Mr. Banks said. “It’s time to level the playing field.”
He is right. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act established real, consistent accountability standards that apply to all schools, not just some. As such, it rendered the previous patchwork of double standards obsolete.
The Trump administration’s repeal of the Biden administration’s Title IX revisions is another step toward returning common sense and value to the U.S. higher education system.
Advertisement Advertisement
Now, Congress should finish the job by permanently retiring the 90/10 rule to the history books.
• Terry Schilling is the president of American Principles Project. Follow him on X @Schilling1776.