Law and Regulations

Government probes 55 colleges for sexual assault

Vice President Joe Biden speaks during an event on protecting students from sexual assault at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building April 29, 2014 in Washington, DC.
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The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has taken the unprecedented step of releasing the names of the 55 colleges and universities currently facing a Title IX sexual abuse investigation.

The release comes two days after a White House task force promised greater government transparency on sexual assault in higher education.

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The agency previously would confirm such an investigation when asked, but students and others were often unaware of them.

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Title IX prohibits gender discrimination at schools that receive federal funds. It is the same law that guarantees girls equal access to sports, but it also regulates institutions' handling of sexual violence and increasingly is being used by victims who say their school failed to protect them.

Investigations of schools listed by state as of May 1, 2014.

StateInstitution
AZArizona State University
CAButte-Glen Community College District
CAOccidental College
CAUniversity of California-Berkeley
CAUniversity of Southern California
CORegis University
COUniversity of Colorado at Boulder
COUniversity of Colorado at Denver
COUniversity of Denver
CTUniversity of Connecticut
DCCatholic University of America
FLFlorida State University
GAEmory University
HIUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa
IDUniversity of Idaho
ILKnox College
ILUniversity of Chicago
INIndiana University-Bloomington
INVincennes University
MAAmherst College
MABoston University
MAEmerson College
MAHarvard College
MAHarvard University—Law School
MAUniversity of Massachusetts-Amherst
MDFrostburg State University
MIMichigan State University
MIUniversity of Michigan-Ann Arbor
NCGuilford College
NCUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
NDMinot State University
NHDartmouth College
NJPrinceton University
NYCuny Hunter College
NYHobart and William Smith Colleges
NYSarah Lawrence College
NYSuny at Binghamton
OHDenison University
OHOhio State University
OHWittenberg University
OKOklahoma State University
PACarnegie Mellon University
PAFranklin and Marshall College
PAPennsylvania State University
PASwarthmore College
PATemple University
TNVanderbilt University
TXSouthern Methodist University
TXThe University of Texas-Pan American
VACollege of William and Mary
VAUniversity of Virginia
WAWashington State University
WIUniversity of Wisconsin-Whitewater
WVBethany College
WVWest Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

Source: U.S. Department of Education

—By The Associated Press