Title IX Informal Resolution

Last reviewed November 3, 2026

Informal resolution is a way to end a Title IX formal complaint without a full investigation and live hearing, usually through mediation, a restorative process, or a negotiated agreement. Under the federal rule in force now, a school can offer it only after a formal complaint is filed, only after giving both students a written notice explaining it, and only if both students agree in writing. Either student can walk away until the agreement is signed. After that, it usually ends the case for good, which is why the terms deserve the same care as a hearing.

Which rule governs informal resolution right now?

The 2020 Title IX rule, at 34 C.F.R. § 106.45(b)(9). The 2024 rule was vacated nationwide on January 9, 2025 (Tennessee v. Cardona, 762 F. Supp. 3d 615 (E.D. Ky. 2025)), and on September 29, 2026 the Department of Education recodified the 2020 rule and removed the 2024 text from the Code of Federal Regulations (91 Fed. Reg. 61,308). The informal resolution provision came back word for word.

Two things are worth checking before you rely on your school’s paperwork. First, the date on the policy. Some schools rewrote their procedures for the 2024 rule, which let a school offer informal resolution before any complaint was filed; a policy that still reads that way does not match the rule in force. Second, which policy you are actually under. When conduct falls outside Title IX’s definition or reach, the school must dismiss it for Title IX purposes but may still pursue it under its own code of conduct (34 C.F.R. § 106.45(b)(3)(i)), and informal resolution under a conduct code follows the school’s rules, not the federal ones. The two tracks are explained on the Title IX and sexual misconduct page.

What the federal rule requires before anyone agrees

• A formal complaint first. The school may not offer informal resolution unless a formal complaint has been filed, and the notice of allegations sent to both students must describe any informal process the school offers (§ 106.45(b)(2)(i)(A), (b)(9)).
• A written notice to both students. It must disclose the allegations, how the process works, when an agreement would bar either student from resuming the formal complaint, the right to withdraw before agreeing, and the consequences of taking part, “including the records that will be maintained or could be shared” (§ 106.45(b)(9)(i)).
• Voluntary, written consent from both. The school cannot require anyone to participate, and it cannot make giving up the formal process a condition of enrollment or any other right (§ 106.45(b)(9)).
• A trained, impartial facilitator. Whoever runs the process must be free of conflicts of interest and bias and trained to serve impartially (§ 106.45(b)(1)(iii)). The school must post its facilitator training materials on its website (§ 106.45(b)(10)(i)(D)).
• Reasonably prompt time frames, which the school’s own policy has to set (§ 106.45(b)(1)(v)).
• Never for employee-on-student complaints. If the complaint alleges that an employee sexually harassed a student, informal resolution is not available at all (§ 106.45(b)(9)(iii)).

Schools do not have to offer informal resolution, and a school that does may decide it is not appropriate for a particular case (85 Fed. Reg. 30026, 30400, 30403 (May 19, 2020)).

What informal resolution can look like

The rule does not define it. The Department described a range, “arbitration, mediation, or restorative justice,” and left the design to schools (85 Fed. Reg. at 30401). Most campus programs take one of three shapes:

• Mediation or a facilitated agreement. A neutral facilitator works toward terms both students accept, often going back and forth between separate rooms. It can end without anyone admitting anything (85 Fed. Reg. at 30404).
• A restorative process. These usually begin with the responding student acknowledging responsibility and focus on repairing the harm (85 Fed. Reg. at 30406).
• An agreed outcome. The responding student accepts set terms, sometimes including responsibility, in exchange for closing the formal process.

An agreement can include the same protective steps schools use during a case, such as contact restrictions and class or housing changes, and it can also include discipline, up to expulsion, if both students agree to it (85 Fed. Reg. at 30401, 30406–07). Nothing requires the two students to face each other, and a school may keep them in separate rooms throughout (85 Fed. Reg. at 30403, 30405). The facilitator may be school staff or an outside provider (85 Fed. Reg. at 30405).

What you give up when you sign, and what you keep until then

• The formal complaint ends. An agreement typically closes the complaint on those allegations, and the written notice has to say when it does.
• The agreement binds. The Department expects these agreements “to be treated as contracts,” binding according to their terms (85 Fed. Reg. at 30405).
• There is usually no appeal. The federal appeal right covers determinations of responsibility and dismissals (§ 106.45(b)(8)(i)). An agreed resolution is neither, and school policies commonly say the agreement is final.
• What you say may not stay in the room. Whether statements made during the process can be used if it falls apart, and whether the facilitator can later be a witness, are the school’s decisions, but they must be disclosed in the notice (85 Fed. Reg. at 30400–01, 30406).
• Confidentiality is set by the school and the agreement. Schools decide the confidentiality rules, and a final agreement can require confidentiality as a condition (85 Fed. Reg. at 30402, 30404).

Until you sign, you keep all of it: the right to withdraw and return to the formal process, the investigation, and, at a college or university, a live hearing at which each side’s advisor questions the other side and the witnesses (§ 106.45(b)(6)(i)). Pressure to agree is itself prohibited. No one may intimidate, threaten, or coerce a student to interfere with Title IX rights (34 C.F.R. § 106.71(a)), and the Department said that includes “the right to voluntarily decide whether or not to participate in informal resolution” (85 Fed. Reg. at 30403).

What follows you afterward

The school must keep a record of every informal resolution and its result for seven years (§ 106.45(b)(10)(i)(C)). What appears on a transcript, what stays in a conduct file, and what the school says when a graduate program, employer, or licensing board asks are set by school policy, state law, and the wording of the agreement. State law can change the answer: Virginia, for example, requires a prominent transcript notation when a student is suspended or permanently dismissed for an offense involving sexual violence, or withdraws while under investigation for one (Va. Code § 23.1-900). And many graduate, professional, and licensing applications ask about disciplinary proceedings, not just findings, so an agreement may still have to be disclosed.

If you are the accused student

Informal resolution can avoid a hearing and, in some formats, a finding of responsibility. It can also lock in terms close to the sanction a hearing might impose, with no appeal. The comparison that matters is the agreement against the realistic hearing outcome, weighed against the strength of the evidence, any criminal exposure (statements in a campus process are not privileged), and what the agreement will require you to disclose later. The strategy for your side is in Should You Agree to Title IX Informal Resolution?

If you are the student who reported

Informal resolution can spare you a live hearing and cross-examination and put specific protections in place faster. It usually ends your complaint on those allegations without a finding. Before you trade your complaint for anything, remember that supportive measures, including counseling, deadline extensions and other course adjustments, schedule and housing changes, and mutual restrictions on contact, are available with or without a formal complaint (34 C.F.R. §§ 106.30, 106.44(a)). The strategy for your side is in the same guide to deciding.

How I help

Every informal resolution is different, and I handle each one case by case. Depending on the policy and the stage, that can mean:

• Reading the written notice against the policy it cites
• Advising whether informal resolution fits your situation at all
• Working through the draft terms, including the records language, before anyone signs
• Serving as your advisor where the policy allows it
• Preparing for the investigation and hearing if informal resolution is not the right path

Common questions

Can my school make me do informal resolution?

No. It requires both students’ voluntary, written consent, the school cannot require participation, and it cannot condition enrollment or any other right on giving up the formal process (34 C.F.R. § 106.45(b)(9)). Pressure to agree can itself violate the retaliation rule (§ 106.71(a)).

Can I change my mind after agreeing to try it?

Yes, until you agree to a resolution. Before then, either student can withdraw and resume the formal process at any time (§ 106.45(b)(9)(i)). Once the agreement is signed, it generally binds according to its terms.

Does agreeing mean admitting responsibility?

Not necessarily. A mediated agreement can end without any admission, while restorative processes usually begin with one (85 Fed. Reg. at 30404, 30406). Ask in writing whether anything you say can be used if the process falls apart; the school has to disclose its answer.

Will an informal resolution show up on my record?

The school keeps a record of it for seven years (§ 106.45(b)(10)(i)(C)). Whether it appears on a transcript, or in what the school tells outside inquirers, depends on school policy, state law, and the agreement’s wording, which is why that wording is worth negotiating.

Can informal resolution be used when a professor or staff member is accused?

Not when the complaint alleges that an employee sexually harassed a student. The 2020 rule forbids it outright (§ 106.45(b)(9)(iii)).

Can I bring a lawyer to informal resolution meetings?

The Title IX rule gives you the right to an advisor of your choice, who may be a lawyer, at meetings in the grievance process (§ 106.45(b)(5)(iv)); for the informal process itself, check your school’s policy. For sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking complaints at colleges in the federal student aid programs, the Clery Act rules give both students an advisor of choice at any disciplinary proceeding and define proceedings to include “formal or informal meetings” (34 C.F.R. § 668.46(k)(2)(iii)–(iv), (k)(3)(iii)). Schools may limit what advisors say, but only equally for both sides.

Reviewed November 3, 2026. The 2020 Title IX regulations govern, as recodified at 91 Fed. Reg. 61,308 (Sept. 29, 2026); the informal resolution text is unchanged from 2020. Which Title IX rule applies right now has the full status.

Related: Title IX hearings and cross-examination · Title IX appeals · Settlement and negotiated resolutions

This is general information about informal resolution, not legal advice about your situation. If your school has offered informal resolution, or the other student has asked for it, get the written notice and the policy it cites in front of a lawyer before anyone signs. Start with the Full Read + Game Plan, or write me a short email about where things stand.