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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10534 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10534
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of
higher education, as a condition of participating in programs under
title IV of such Act, to annually conduct a survey to measure student
experiences with discrimination at such institutions, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 19, 2024
Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania (for herself, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Watson Coleman,
and Ms. Williams of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of
higher education, as a condition of participating in programs under
title IV of such Act, to annually conduct a survey to measure student
experiences with discrimination at such institutions, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Creating Positive College Campus
Racial Climates Act''.
SECTION 2. ASSESSING DISCRIMINATION AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
EDUCATION.
(a) National Campus Climate Survey.--Part B of title I of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 124. NATIONAL CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY.
``(a) Survey.--The Secretary shall develop an annual survey to
measure student experiences with discrimination at institutions of
higher education that participate in any program under title IV, which
shall be known as the National Campus Climate Survey (in this section
referred to as the `Survey'). The Survey shall collect from students
the following information:
``(1) The demographic information of the student, including
the number of years of an undergraduate or graduate education
the student has completed.
``(2) The number of instances of covert and overt acts of
racial discrimination the student has experienced on a campus
or other property of the institution.
``(3) Responses from the student recorded on a numeric
scale from 1 to 10 regarding the extent that the student--
``(A) feels prepared to engage in a racially
diverse democracy and workforce;
``(B) is concerned about experiencing covert and
overt acts of racial discrimination on a campus or
other property of the institution; and
``(C) is satisfied with how the institution
responds to alleged incidents of racial discrimination
reported to the institution.
``(4) Any additional information as determined appropriate
by the Secretary.
``(b) Distribution.--Not later than September 30, 2025, and not
later than each September 30 thereafter, the Secretary shall--
``(1) prepare the content of the Survey; and
``(2) distribute the Survey to each institution of higher
education that participates in any program under title IV
through the portal established under subsection (d)(1).
``(c) Response Collection.--Not later than May 31, 2026, and not
later than each May 31 thereafter, each institution of higher education
that participates in any program under title IV shall--
``(1) conduct the Survey distributed through the portal
established under subsection (d)(1) among students of the
institution and accept student responses to such Survey for a
period of at least 60 days;
``(2) publish a report of the results of the Survey
collected by the institution that excludes any personally
identifiable information on a publically available website of
the institution;
``(3) notify students and staff of the institution when
such report is published; and
``(4) upload the results of the Survey collected by the
institution to the portal established under subsection (d)(1).
``(d) Portal.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall publish a portal on
a publically available website of the Department to facilitate
the distribution of the Survey to, and to collect responses to
the Survey uploaded by, institutions of higher education that
participate in any program under title IV.
``(2) Database.--The portal established under paragraph (1)
shall include a searchable database of the responses to the
Survey uploaded to the portal. Such responses shall be--
``(A) disaggregated by the institution of higher
education that the response pertains to; and
``(B) anonymized to remove any personally
identifiable information.
``(e) Assistance.--The Secretary shall establish a website and a
toll-free telephone number to provide assistance and resources to
institutions of higher education regarding the collection of responses
to the Survey.
``(f) Anonymous Responses.--The Survey shall include an option for
students to submit responses anonymously.
``(g) Monitoring.--The Office for Civil Rights of the Department--
``(1) shall monitor the responses to the Survey uploaded to
the portal established under subsection (d)(1); and
``(2) may use such responses as the basis for opening an
investigation of alleged discrimination at an institution of
higher education.
``SEC. 125. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING COMPLAINTS RELATED TO
DISCRIMINATION.
``(a) Not later than October 31, 2025, and not less than twice each
year thereafter, each institution of higher education that participates
in any program under title IV shall post on a publically available
website of the institution and email students of the institution the
following information:
``(1) A guide of the policies of the institution that
prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, or
national origin (including discrimination based on actual or
perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics), including
discrimination against individuals who are or are perceived to
be members of a religion.
``(2) Data from the most recently completed academic year
regarding--
``(A) complaints asserting instances of
discrimination described in paragraph (1) against a
student that are reported to the institution; and
``(B) complaints asserting instances of
discrimination described in paragraph (1) against a
student that are reported to the Office for Civil
Rights of the Department of Education, to the extent
such complaints are known to the institution.
``(b) Not later than October 31, 2025, and not less than once every
4 years thereafter, each institution of higher education that
participates in any program under title IV shall audit all reporting
systems of the institution that accept complaints asserting instances
of discrimination described in subsection (a)(1) against a student.
Each such audit shall evaluate--
``(1) how each such reporting system--
``(A) accepts, processes, and resolves a complaint;
and
``(B) solicits input and feedback on the reporting
system from the individual who submitted such
complaint, including how the institution communicates
with such individual on matters regarding the
complaint; and
``(2) how the institution--
``(A) sanctions an individual found to be non-
complaint with the policies of the institution
regarding instances of discrimination described in
subsection (a)(1) against a student; and
``(B) could improve the accessibility and ease of
navigation of reporting systems.''.
(b) OCR Annual Report.--
(1) In general.--Section 203(b) of the Department of
Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3413(b)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(3) The report required by paragraph (1) shall include an
analysis of the complaints the Office for Civil Rights has received
during the period covered by such report regarding alleged
discrimination against a student or staff of an institution of higher
education in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). Such analysis shall include--
``(A) such complaints disaggregated by--
``(i) the race or ethnicity of the alleged victim,
to the extent such information is available;
``(ii) in the case of a complaint filed by a
student, the number of years of an undergraduate or
graduate education the student had completed at the
time such complaint was filed;
``(iii) the specific violation of Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 that is the basis for the
complaint; and
``(iv) the name of the institution, if any, upon
which the complaint was alleged against; and
``(B) information pertaining to the period covered by such
report on--
``(i) the number of such complaints, including
through what means the complaint was filed and
disaggregated by such means, including electronic
submissions through forms provided by the Office for
Civil Rights; and
``(ii) the number of complaints with waivers
approved for filing after the 180-day filing period has
expired.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by this subsection
shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act.
(c) Program Participation Agreement Requirements.--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 will comply with the requirements of
section 124(c).
``(31) The institution will comply with the requirements of
section 125.''.
(d) Audit.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of Education shall
conduct an audit of the complaint process used by the Office of Civil
Rights of the Department of Education for complaints of alleged
violations of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d
et seq.).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
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