U.S. Department of Education Rescinds Biden 11th Hour Guidance on NIL Compensation

U.S. Department of Education

February 12, 2025
‘The NIL guidance, rammed through by the Biden Administration in its final days, is overly burdensome, profoundly unfair, and it goes well beyond what agency guidance is intended to achieve’
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today announced it has rescinded the nine-page Title IX guidance on Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) issued in the final days of the Biden administration:
“The NIL guidance, rammed through by the Biden Administration in its final days, is overly burdensome, profoundly unfair, and it goes well beyond what agency guidance is intended to achieve. Without a credible legal justification, the Biden Administration claimed that NIL agreements between schools and student athletes are akin to financial aid and must, therefore, be proportionately distributed between male and female athletes under Title IX. Enacted over 50 years ago, Title IX says nothing about how revenue-generating athletics programs should allocate compensation among student athletes. The claim that Title IX forces schools and colleges to distribute student-athlete revenues proportionately based on gender equity considerations is sweeping and would require clear legal authority to support it. That does not exist. Accordingly, the Biden NIL guidance is rescinded,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. 

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