ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos declared on Thursday that "the era of 'rule by letter' is over" as she announced plans to change the way colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault on campus.

DeVos vowed to replace a set of rules enacted by the Obama administration in a 2011 memo known as the "Dear Colleague Letter," which she said created a system that failed students.

"Instead of working with schools on behalf of students, the prior administration weaponized the Office for Civil Rights to work against schools and against students," she said in a speec...