How to File a Title IX Complaint for Sexual Harassment or Sex Discrimination in School

If your school knows about sexual harassment or sex discrimination and isn't acting, you can file a free federal complaint with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights — you have 180 calendar days from the last incident to do it.

Key facts

• You have 180 calendar days from the last discriminatory act to file a Title IX complaint with OCR (ed.gov, "How to File a Discrimination Complaint with OCR").
• Title IX (20 U.S.C. § 1681) covers any school, college, or program that receives federal funding — nearly every public school in the country.
• As of the Department of Education's September 29, 2026 final rule, the operative Title IX regulations are the 2020 rule (34 C.F.R. Part 106); the 2024 rule was vacated nationwide on January 9, 2025 and was never enforced after January 31, 2025.
• A school is only liable for money damages in a private lawsuit if an official with authority to act had actual knowledge of the harassment and was "deliberately indifferent" to it (Gebser v. Lago Vista, 524 U.S. 274 (1998); Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ., 526 U.S. 629 (1999)).
• Retaliation for reporting is a separate, independent Title IX violation (34 C.F.R. § 106.71).

What Title IX actually covers

Title IX bans sex discrimination at any school, college, or program that gets federal money. In practice that is almost every public school district, state college, and most private colleges and universities. It reaches well past "classic" sexual harassment:

Sexual harassment and assault. Under the current 34 C.F.R. Part 106 regulations, "sexual harassment" has a specific legal definition — it's either (1) a school employee conditioning an educational benefit on unwelcome sexual conduct (quid pro quo), or (2) unwelcome conduct a reasonable person would find so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies a person equal access to the school's education program. Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking — as defined under the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Act — count automatically, without needing to meet that "severe and pervasive" test.

Unequal treatment in academics and discipline. Steering girls away from STEM programs, disciplining students differently based on sex, or denying a pregnant or parenting student the same access to classes and activities as other students.

Athletics. Unequal funding, facilities, coaching, or opportunities to participate between male and female sports programs.

Retaliation. Punishing a student, parent, or witness for reporting, testifying, or participating in a Title IX complaint — this is its own violation under 34 C.F.R. § 106.71, separate from whatever happened in the underlying complaint.

The regulatory ground shifted in 2026 — know which rule applies

This matters more than it sounds. The Department of Education rewrote the Title IX regulations in 2024, expanding the definition of sex discrimination and loosening some procedural requirements. That 2024 rule was challenged in court almost immediately, preliminarily blocked by eight different federal courts between June and August 2024, and then vacated in full by two separate courts in January and February 2025. The Department announced on January 31, 2025 that it would go back to enforcing the prior rule, and on September 29, 2026 it formally repealed the 2024 rule and recodified the Code of Federal Regulations to reflect what's actually been in force since January 2025: the 2020 Title IX regulations.

Bottom line: as of this writing, the 2020 rule — not the 2024 rule — governs every Title IX complaint and school grievance process nationwide. If a school's Title IX policy still references the 2024 definitions, that policy is out of date.

Under the 2020 rule, schools that receive a formal complaint must run a specific grievance process: written notice to both parties, an equal opportunity to review evidence, a presumption that the person accused is not responsible until the process concludes, and — for colleges and universities — a live hearing where each party's advisor can cross-examine the other party and witnesses. K-12 schools aren't required to hold a live hearing, but must still give both sides a real chance to respond before reaching a decision.

How to file an OCR complaint — step by step

1. Document what happened now, while it's fresh. Dates, what was said or done, who else was present, and who at the school you told about it (and when). If the school's response — or failure to respond — is part of your claim, document that too, with names and dates. This is also the evidence a private lawsuit would need later, since Gebser and Davis both turn on what the school knew and when.

2. Report it to the school first, if you haven't. Every federally funded school is required to designate a Title IX Coordinator. Reporting to that person (or any school official with authority to address the problem) is usually what starts the clock on the school's legal duty to respond — and establishes the "actual knowledge" a damages claim requires.

3. File with OCR within 180 days. Use the online complaint form at www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html, or mail a complaint to your regional OCR office. You do not need a lawyer, and OCR does not charge a fee. Explain what happened, when, who was involved, and what the school did or didn't do about it.

4. Expect OCR to open an investigation or reach an early resolution. OCR will notify you and the school once it accepts the complaint for investigation. Many complaints end in a voluntary resolution agreement where the school commits to specific corrective steps, monitored by OCR.

5. Know your private-lawsuit option is separate. Filing with OCR does not require you to also sue, and you don't have to exhaust the OCR process before filing a private Title IX lawsuit. The two tracks run independently, and a private suit has its own statute of limitations question governed by the most analogous state law — talk to an attorney about which deadline applies to your situation.

Document it before you forget

If this happened to you, the deadline clock is already running. IronRecord lets you document the incident now — timestamped, with evidence attached — and calculates your filing deadline automatically. Free to start, no lawyer required.

Start your free record at ironrecord.org/dashboard

When you're ready, you can share your full documented record with a civil-rights attorney in one click.

This article provides general legal information, not legal advice. Regulations and their enforcement status can change; confirm current requirements with OCR or a licensed attorney before relying on a specific deadline. Sources: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681; 34 C.F.R. Part 106; U.S. Department of Education, "Recodification of Title IX Rules," 91 Fed. Reg. (Sept. 29, 2026); Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274 (1998); Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629 (1999); U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, "How to File a Discrimination Complaint with OCR."