Plans for colleges to pay athletes directly for their name, image and likeness deals would run afoul of Title IX, the Department of Education said in guidance issued Thursday that adds more confusion to the shifting landscape in college sports.

U.S. Department of Education defines NIL as financial aid that must be proportional for male and female athletes

OCR’s Title IX guidance reshapes college athletics by requiring proportional NIL revenue sharing between male and female athletes, challenging budgets.

A court settlement that would require colleges – for the first time – to pay athletes billions for their play is not going to settle the debate over amateurism in NCAA sports. Many schools have said that most of the up to $20.