Dive Brief:
- Community colleges now make up a greater share of Title IX investigations, roughly doubling since January to 10 cases under review, and much is still unclear about the federal enforcement process.
- In a review of Title IX complaints, The Chronicle of Higher Education found inconsistencies in what prompts a compliance review from the U.S. Department of Education as well as whether multiple investigations get combined into one.
- Lawsuits have put a hold on the department’s investigation at a handful of schools, Notre Dame is under investigation again following a 2011 resolution agreement, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign agreed to a monetary settlement to resolve a recent complaint.
Dive Insight:
The Chronicle of Higher Education has been tracking all Title IX cases since January. Overall, 192 colleges are under investigation in 243 active cases. More than half are at private colleges (154), and 137 are at public schools. The explosion of complaints surrounding mishandling of sexual assault allegations was prompted by a 2011 Dear Colleague letter from the Department of Education making clear that colleges have a responsibility under gender anti-discrimination law Title IX when it comes to campus climate.
Some have argued colleges are simply not equipped to handle cases that should, instead, be funneled through the criminal justice system. As accused students begin to win more cases about how their own due process rights have been trampled in campus adjudication, colleges are under even more pressure to get it right for all parties involved.