[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3580 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3580

 To require institutions of higher education participating in Federal 
 student aid programs to share information about title VI of the Civil 
 Rights Act of 1964, including a link to the webpage of the Office for 
   Civil Rights where an individual can submit a complaint regarding 
   discrimination in violation of such title, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 11, 2024

 Mr. Cassidy (for himself and Mr. Fetterman) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require institutions of higher education participating in Federal 
 student aid programs to share information about title VI of the Civil 
 Rights Act of 1964, including a link to the webpage of the Office for 
   Civil Rights where an individual can submit a complaint regarding 
   discrimination in violation of such title, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Students on Campus Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. TITLE VI AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.

    (a) Title VI Awareness Campaign.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Education, acting through 
        the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department of 
        Education, shall carry out a public awareness campaign 
        regarding the availability of rights provided to individuals 
        under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d 
        et seq.).
            (2) Awareness campaign.--The public awareness campaign 
        shall include appealing visual and auditory elements and shall 
        be updated annually and distributed to institutions of higher 
        education for physical posting in 1 or more high traffic public 
        places, such as student centers, and digital posting on 1 or 
        more high traffic institution web pages, such as student 
        services. The campaign shall utilize such methods and materials 
        as necessary to maximize student accessibility.
            (3) Ability to contract.--The Secretary may carry out this 
        subsection directly or through a contract with a nonprofit 
        organization that specializes in public awareness 
        communications.
    (b) HEA Amendments.--Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(30) The institution--
                    ``(A) has prominently displayed on the homepage of 
                the institution a link to the webpage of the Office for 
                Civil Rights of the Department of Education where an 
                individual can submit a complaint regarding 
                discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national 
                origin in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 
                of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.); and
                    ``(B) will annually display and post the public 
                awareness campaign materials created and distributed 
                under section 2(a) of the Protecting Students on Campus 
                Act of 2024 in high traffic public places on campus, 
                such as student centers, and high traffic institution 
                web pages, such as student services.''.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.

    (a) In General.--Beginning not later than 30 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act and ending 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department of 
Education shall give a monthly briefing to Congress--
            (1) explaining the number of complaints that the Office for 
        Civil Rights of the Department of Education (referred to in 
        this Act as the ``Office'') has received in the previous month 
        regarding discrimination on the basis of race, color, or 
        national origin in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights 
        Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), disaggregated by the 
        basis of discrimination;
            (2) describing how the Office plans to address those 
        complaints and the investigations opened in response to those 
        complaints; and
            (3) providing data about the length of time that those 
        complaints remain open after being received by the Office.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 48 hours prior to each briefing 
described in subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 
of the Department of Education shall provide a written report to 
Congress that contains the information that will be presented at the 
next briefing, in a manner that protects personally identifiable 
information in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

SEC. 4. AUDIT AND STUDY.

    (a) Requirement To Submit Data.--Each institution of higher 
education receiving Federal funds shall submit an annual report to the 
Inspector General of the Department of Education that includes--
            (1) the number of complaints regarding discrimination on 
        the basis of race, color, or national origin in violation of 
        title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et 
        seq.) that were submitted to the institution in the previous 
        year;
            (2) an analysis of the number of such complaints and their 
        substance; and
            (3) a narrative of the action the institution took with 
        respect to such complaints.
    (b) Audit.--The Inspector General of the Department of Education 
shall complete an annual audit of the institutions of higher education 
that are in the top 5 percent of institutions based on the per capita 
number of complaints described in subsection (a) received by the 
institutions, controlling for student population, to examine the 
process for addressing such complaints and the need for any referrals 
to the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education.
    (c) Study.--The Inspector General of the Department of Education 
shall conduct a study--
            (1) regarding why there is a disparity between the 
        complaints regarding discrimination on the basis of race, 
        color, or national origin in violation of title VI of the Civil 
        Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) that are submitted 
        to institutions of higher education and such complaints that 
        are submitted to the Office; and
            (2) quantifying the distinction described in paragraph (1).

SEC. 5. OCR PROCESS REFORMS.

    The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education shall 
not close or dismiss any complaint due to resolution by another 
Federal, State, or local civil rights enforcement agency or through a 
recipient's internal grievance procedures.
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