In a move that could make it easier for colleges to show that their sports offerings for women comply with law, the Education Department has quietly issued a new clarification of the regulations interpreting Title IX, the statute barring sex discrimination at institutions that receive federal financing.

The clarification, which was posted Friday afternoon on the department's Web site, is being criticized by women's advocacy groups as a weakening of Title IX's protection of a right to equality in collegiate sports opportunities. The law has led to an explosion of women's athletics on campuses, though critics assert that it has curtailed men's competition as some colleges, concerned with prohibited imbalance between the sexes, find a remedy in eliminating a number of lower-profile men's sports.