Dept. of Ed: Title IX Applies for NIL Payments, Must Be Proportional for All Athletes

The U.S. Department of Education published a memo on Thursday providing guidance regarding name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation and its compliance under Title IX law, via ESPN's Paula Lavigne and Dan Murphy.

"When a school provides athletic financial assistance in forms other than scholarships or grants, including compensation for the use of a student-athlete's NIL, such assistance also must be made proportionately available to male and female athletes," the memo said, via Lavigne and Murphy.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination in education programs based on sex.

It also requires schools to provide financial assistance that is proportional to the amount of students of each sex who play sports on campus. Lavigne and Murphy noted on Thursday that if 50 percent of a school's athletes are women, then 50 percent of the school's financial aid for athletes must be allotted to women.

It's currently unclear if the Department of Education will interpret Title IX law the same way following the upcoming presidential administration change.

NCAA president Charlie Baker brought up the timeline of changes when asked about the guidance remaining under a new administration.

"That process usually takes a while for all the elements that are usually associated with the turnover in administration," Baker said, via Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer. "Some stuff happens right away, some stuff happens later and some stuff never changes at all."

Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger noted that a new administration has the power to appoint Department of Education leaders and can rescind or change guidance.

One of the terms of a pending antitrust settlement between the NCAA and its power conferences is an agreement to allow each school to share up to $20.5 million in direct payments to its athletes from NIL deals (via Lavigne and Murphy). Many schools from the power conferences already have plans to distribute the majority of the NIL money to students in sports such as football and men's basketball, which generate the most revenue.

Under the guidance in Thursday's memo, the payments must be shared in proportion between men and women athletes.