The guidance released in 2011 and then updated in 2014 instructed universities to use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard when assessing and investigating a claim of sexual assault. … Andrew Miltenberg, a New York lawyer who represents students accused of sexual assault, described Obama’s standard as only “50.1 percent certain” and said that it ignored the presumption of innocence and put the burden on the accused to prove that the assault did not happen. Miltenberg said the system proposed by DeVos is much more fair. “Certainly, it’s a much more stringent standard and one that is less open to subjective interpretation,” Miltenberg said.