Student Protection and University Accountability Act
Sponsored By: Representative Stefanik, Elise M. [R-NY-21]
Introduced
Summary
Title VI compliance and transparency would be strengthened by a new system that makes colleges and universities formally attest to civil rights obligations, publish clear complaint steps, and face penalties for failing to follow them. The bill ties school-level accountability to standardized complaint handling and gives the Office for Civil Rights clearer reporting duties to Congress.
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- Students and complainants would see a public, step-by-step complaint process, a named compliance coordinator at each institution, and requirements for timely communications about investigations.
- Participating higher education institutions would have to file an annual attestation, keep records and public materials about Title VI protections, and face ineligibility for federal awards for two award years if they fail to comply.
- The Office for Civil Rights would deliver bimonthly congressional briefings for two years with pre-briefing written reports and disaggregated complaint data while following privacy protections, and it would adopt process reforms to avoid dismissing or delaying cases due to related complaints.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
New complaint rules for colleges
If enacted, colleges that take federal student aid would have to annually confirm they follow new complaint rules about race, color, or national origin. Schools would have to publish and widely share how they investigate complaints, name at least one compliance coordinator, and show Office for Civil Rights materials on campus and online for at least one year. Complainants would get notice within 30 days of filing and a written outcome within 30 days after a decision. If a school fails to confirm compliance for two award years in a row, it could lose eligibility for federal student aid for at least the next two award years. These institutional rules would start on the first day of the first award year after enactment.
Bimonthly OCR briefings to Congress
If enacted, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights would give bimonthly briefings to the House Education and Workforce Committee and the Senate HELP Committee for two years. Each briefing would cover complaints OCR got the prior month and would include complaint counts, how OCR has handled or plans to handle them, ongoing investigations, and how long investigations take. OCR would protect personal information, break out data by alleged basis (including shared ancestry), and send a written report to the committees at least 48 hours before each briefing. These briefings would start within 30 days after enactment and end two years later.
OCR ban on dismissing duplicate complaints
If enacted, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights would not be allowed to close or delay a Title VI complaint just because the same complaint was filed with another agency, a court, or the school. There is one narrow exception if a court has certified a class action and both people are in that class. The bill would also define which colleges count as covered "recipients" for these OCR rules: institutions of higher education that get federal funds.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Stefanik, Elise M. [R-NY-21]
NY • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Gillen, Laura [D-NY-4]
NY • D
Sponsored 6/8/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov