Sponsors (153)
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Mark Pocan · Last progress September 18, 2025
The bill strengthens and clarifies campus anti-harassment protections, reporting, and prevention supports—backed by federal grants and published best practices—but imposes meaningful compliance, privacy, and funding trade-offs for institutions, accused individuals, and taxpayers.
Students and campus community members will have clearer, written anti-harassment protections (covering race, sex including sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, religion, and electronic harassment) and designated reporting offices, making it easier to identify prohibited conduct and report incidents.
Students and staff will gain expanded prevention programs, counseling, mental-health resources, and training on campuses, improving support and campus safety.
Colleges and universities can receive federal grant funding (up to $50M/year through FY2031) and access published, evidence-based best practices, helping institutions implement or scale effective harassment-prevention and response programs.
Colleges and universities will face increased administrative and compliance costs to develop, update, monitor, and report detailed harassment policies and program outcomes, which could divert staff time and resources and put upward pressure on tuition or other services.
Accused individuals could face privacy and legal risks because the law requires public description or tracking of harassment patterns and incidents, complicating confidentiality and increasing potential reputational or legal exposure.
Expanding covered conduct to include electronic messaging and mobile services may require new investigative procedures or monitoring of student communications, raising privacy concerns and administrative intrusion risks.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires Title IV colleges to publish detailed anti-harassment policies (including electronic harassment) and creates a competitive grant program with $50M/yr authorized for FY2026–FY2031.
Requires U.S. colleges and universities that participate in federal student aid programs to publish and include in their institutional and financial assistance reports a comprehensive anti-harassment policy covering race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy and related conditions, sex stereotypes, and sex characteristics), disability, and religion — including harassment that occurs via electronic messaging or mobile services. Establishes a competitive grant program to fund prevention, counseling, training, and related services at eligible institutions, and authorizes $50 million per year for FY2026–FY2031 to carry out the grant program. Also requires grant recipients to evaluate and report program results, directs the Secretary of Education to publish best practices and annual reports to Congress, and clarifies that the Act supplements existing civil rights laws such as Title VI, Title IX, the Rehabilitation Act, and the ADA without replacing them.