The Department of Education is ceding higher-education program management to the Department of Labor and has sharply cut civil-rights enforcement capacity, administration officials disclosed this month. Staff from the Higher Education Programs Division will move into Labor under an interagency realignment the administration calls a coordination of postsecondary education with workforce policy. At the same time the Office for Civil Rights has opened far fewer sexual-violence investigations after mass layoffs. Undersecretaries framed the move as a workforce-alignment strategy tied to the American Talent Strategy; critics call it a dismantling of the Education Department’s traditional role. Internal data show the OCR opened fewer than 10 sexual-violence probes since the layoffs, down from dozens in prior years, prompting concern among campus Title IX practitioners and legal advocates. Universities and law firms handling Title IX matters report confusion about where to file complaints and worry about slower remedies for students. Legal observers and campus leaders say the twin changes — program relocation and reduced enforcement — will shift compliance burdens to institutions and could leave students with fewer federal recourses in the near term.