H.R. 9203

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9203 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9203

To increase the transparency of colleges and universities in carrying 
out their civil rights responsibilities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 8, 2026

Ms. Stefanik (for herself and Ms. Gillen) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To increase the transparency of colleges and universities in carrying 
out their civil rights responsibilities, 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 ``Student Protection and University 
Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE AND TRANSPARENCY RELATED TO TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL 
RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.

(a) Program Participation Agreement Requirement.--Section 487 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as subsections 
(j) and (k), respectively;
(2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph:
``(30) The institution will comply with the provisions of 
subsection (i) and provide to the Secretary an annual 
attestation of such compliance.''; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new 
subsection:
``(i) Compliance and Transparency Related to Complaints Under Title 
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.--
``(1) Compliance and transparency.--With respect to 
complaints received by an institution related to alleged 
violations of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), the institution shall take the following 
actions:
``(A) Have in effect investigative processes 
related to such complaints, which shall include each of 
the elements listed in clauses (i) through (vi) of 
subparagraph (B), and make publicly available 
(including on the website of the institution), and 
widely distribute to students and their families 
(including in student orientation materials), a 
description of such investigative processes.
``(B) Include in the investigative processes 
described in subparagraph (A) at least the following:
``(i) The processes and factors used to 
determine whether such complaints will be 
investigated by the institution and how the 
outcome of an investigation will be determined.
``(ii) A designation of at least one 
employee to coordinate its efforts to comply 
with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
(42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), including any 
investigation of such complaints.
``(iii) A procedure to ensure that, for 
each such complaint received by the 
institution, the complainant will receive from 
the institution--
``(I) not later than 30 days after 
receipt of such complaint--
``(aa) notification of the 
receipt of the complaint;
``(bb) notification of 
whether or not an investigation 
has been opened in response to 
the complaint;
``(cc) in the case that an 
investigation is not opened in 
response to the complaint, an 
explanation of why an 
investigation was not opened, 
including a summary of the 
information that was used to 
determine that an investigation 
should not be opened; and
``(dd) in the case that an 
investigation is opened, 
notification that an 
investigation of the complaint 
will be carried out and that 
the complainant will be 
notified of the outcome of the 
investigation; and
``(II) not later than 30 days after 
an outcome of an investigation is 
reached, notification of the outcome of 
the investigation, including an 
explanation of how the outcome was 
reached, and any remedial actions taken 
in response to the complaint.
``(iv) A system for keeping and maintaining 
records of such complaints, including the 
determination and reasoning for whether or not 
an investigation into a complaint was opened by 
the institution, notifications to and 
communications with the complainant and, if 
applicable, the respondent, a record of the 
investigation (including the outcome thereof), 
and a record of any remedial actions taken in 
response to the complaint.
``(v) The contact information and necessary 
steps for reporting such complaints to the 
institution.
``(vi) The contact information and 
necessary steps for reporting a complaint 
related to an alleged violation of title VI of 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d 
et seq.) to the Office for Civil Rights of the 
Department of Education, including the 
hyperlink to the electronic complaint form of 
the Office for Civil Rights for an alleged 
violation of such title; and
``(C) With respect to public awareness campaign 
materials created and distributed by the Office for 
Civil Rights of the Department of Education relating to 
protections for individuals under title VI of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), display 
and publish such materials, as applicable--
``(i) not later than 30 days after such 
materials are distributed;
``(ii) for not less than 1 year or until 
new such materials are distributed, whichever 
is later;
``(iii) in high traffic, public places on 
the campus of the institution; and
``(iv) on a publicly available website of 
the institution.
``(2) Enforcement.--An institution of higher education that 
fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (a)(30) for 
two consecutive award years shall be ineligible to participate 
in the programs authorized by this title for a period of not 
less than the first two subsequent award years. To regain 
eligibility to participate in the programs authorized by this 
title, an institution of higher education shall demonstrate 
compliance with paragraph (1) prior to the completion of the 
period during which the institution is ineligible due to 
failure to comply with such paragraph.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the first day of the first award year (as such term is 
defined in section 481 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1088)) beginning after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS REQUIREMENTS.

(a) Congressional Briefings.--
(1) In general.--Beginning not later than 30 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act and ending 2 years after such 
date of enactment, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of 
the Department of Education (or the designee of such Assistant 
Secretary) shall provide a briefing, on a bimonthly basis, to 
the authorizing committees about complaints alleging 
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 have been received by the Office for 
Civil Rights of the Department of Education in the preceding 
month--
(A) in a manner that--
(i) protects personally identifiable 
information; and
(ii) disaggregates information by the basis 
of such alleged discrimination (including 
shared ancestry); and
(B) that includes--
(i) the number of such complaints;
(ii) a description of--
(I) how the Office has addressed or 
plans to address such complaints; and
(II) the investigations being 
carried out in response to such 
complaints, as applicable; and
(iii) data about the length of such 
investigations.
(2) Report.--Not later than 48 hours prior to each briefing 
required under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary for Civil 
Rights of the Department of Education (or the designee of such 
Assistant Secretary) shall submit to the authorizing committees 
a written report that contains the information that will be 
presented at such briefing and that complies with the 
requirements of paragraph (1)(A).
(3) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
(A) Authorizing committees.--The term ``authorizing 
committees'' means the Committee on Education and 
Workforce of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
the Senate.
(B) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office 
for Civil Rights of the Department of Education.
(b) OCR Process Reforms.--
(1) Dismissals.--The Office may not close or dismiss any 
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.) due to the filing of a 
complaint involving the same allegations against the same 
recipient--
(A) by an individual other than the complainant 
with another Federal, State, or local agency, a court, 
or the recipient, unless the Office determines that--
(i) a court has certified a class action 
with respect to the alleged violation of such 
other individual's complaint;
(ii) such other individual is a member of 
such class; and
(iii) the complainant is a member of such 
class; or
(B) by the complainant with another Federal, State, 
or local agency, a court, or the recipient.
(2) Investigations.--The Office may not delay an 
investigation of a complaint due to the filing of a complaint 
involving the same allegations against the same recipient with 
another Federal, State, or local agency or the recipient.
(3) Recipient defined.--For purposes of this subsection, 
the term ``recipient'' means an institution of higher education 
(as such term is defined in section 102 of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that receives funds under an 
applicable program (as such term is defined in section 400 of 
the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221)).
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