Summary#
This bill adds anti-harassment requirements for colleges and universities that take federal student aid. It requires schools to publish clear policies that cover harassment in person and online, and it creates a competitive grant program to fund prevention, counseling, and training. The broad goal is to reduce harassment of students and improve institutions’ responses.
- Schools must include a statement of policy on harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, or religion in the campus security/harassment report they already give students.
- Policies must cover harassment on campus, in dorms, on public or noncampus property, during school activities, and when carried out by email, electronic messaging, mobile services, or school networks.
- Schools must describe prevention programs, how students should report harassment, how the school will handle reports, and name the office or employee who will track reports. Schools must report each occasion when a pattern of harassment occurs and what the school did.
- The Department of Education may award competitive grants to colleges or consortia to start, expand, or improve prevention programs, counseling or redress services, and training.
- The bill authorizes $50 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2031 for the grant program.
What it means for you#
- Students: Colleges must publish clearer rules and procedures about harassment and how to report it. Policies must address harassment that happens online or by phone, as well as in person. Schools must tell both the person who reports harassment and the person accused about the outcome of disciplinary processes.
- Faculty and staff: Schools’ anti-harassment policies must cover harassment by or toward faculty and staff and may affect workplace reporting and discipline at institutions that participate in federal student-aid programs.
- Institutions of higher education: Colleges and universities that receive federal aid must write, publish, and track these policies and report patterns of harassment. They may apply for competitive federal grants to fund prevention, counseling, and training work.
- Parents and campus communities: There may be clearer information about available counseling and support services and about how schools handle harassment.
- Department of Education: The department will run the grant program, evaluate grantees, publish best practices, and report to Congress on program results.
Expenses#
Estimated public cost: The bill authorizes up to $50,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2031 for the grant program. Authorization does not itself provide spending; Congress must appropriate the money.
- Direct federal authorization: $50 million per year, FY2026–2031, for grants to colleges and consortia.
- Federal administrative costs: the Department of Education would need staff and resources to run competitions, monitor grants, evaluate results, and publish best practices (amount not specified).
- Institutional costs: colleges may incur administrative and compliance costs to draft and distribute new policies, track reports, prepare the required descriptions of harassment patterns, and set up or expand counseling and training programs. Some institutions could offset costs if they receive grant funding.
- No detailed fiscal note in the bill text for other costs or savings.
- No information on any new fines or fees.
Proponents' View#
- The bill appears intended to make campus anti-harassment policies clearer and more complete, especially about online and electronic harassment.
- It would likely increase transparency by requiring schools to name an office or employee responsible for tracking reports and to report patterns of harassment and the actions taken.
- The grant program is intended to fund prevention, counseling, and training programs that schools might not otherwise be able to afford.
- Publishing evidence-based “best practices” could help more institutions adopt effective methods to reduce harassment.
Opponents' View#
- One concern is added administrative burden: schools must prepare new materials, track patterns of harassment, and report detailed descriptions, which could require staff time and systems.
- The bill does not set a detailed definition of “harassment” or “pattern of harassment,” so schools may face uncertainty about what must be reported and when.
- Privacy and due-process questions may arise from the requirement to report patterns and to inform both accuser and accused of disciplinary outcomes; the bill does not specify how to protect confidential information.
- It is unclear how off-campus or public-property incidents will be handled in practice, or how jurisdictional limits interact with existing federal laws like Title IX.
- The authorization of $50 million per year is not the same as an appropriation; actual funding depends on future congressional action.