Higher Education Law Report
October 15, 2024
New Title IX regulations became effective on August 1, 2024, and contain extensive requirements for colleges and universities that receive federal Title IV funds to provide accommodations for students who are pregnant or who have recently given birth.
Read More >> Accommodations for Pregnant and Parenting Students: New Rules, New Challenges
April 19, 2024
After an extensive period of public commentary and deliberation, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced significant updates to its Title IX regulations on April 18, 2023. The changes are largely designed to overhaul how institutions of higher education (IHE) consider and address cases of sexual harassment, sexual assault, LGBTQI+ discrimination, and other forms of sex-based mistreatment, with the goal of ensuring gender equity in education.
Read More >> Here We Go: ED Releases Reworked Title IX Regulations
October 17, 2023
Over the past several months, institutions of higher education (IHE) have seen an influx of Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) applications from former students.
Student loan borrowers with federal student loans can apply for a BDR loan discharge through the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Generally, in order to be successful, a borrower must demonstrate that they enrolled in an IHE or continued to attend an IHE based on misleading information or other related misconduct covered by the regulation, such as breach of contract.
Read More >> Colleges and Universities Experience a Surge of Borrower Defense to Repayment Claims
August 15, 2023
On Aug. 14, 2023, the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education and the United States Department of Justice issued joint guidance to institutions of higher education with respect to the Supreme Court's recent decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The guidance, in the form of a Dear Colleague Letter and a Q&A document, clarifies the Departments’ position as to practices that are and are not permissible in the wake of the decision, and encourages institutions’ continued use of lawful means to enroll and support a diverse student body. For example:
June 30, 2023
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.[1] The Court considered the admissions practices of Harvard College and University of North Carolina (UNC) and found that neither could withstand the “strict scrutiny” demanded for race-based admissions decisions. Although nominally about these two particular admissions programs, the Court’s rationale for its ruling leaves virtually no possibility that race-based admissions practices will withstand judicial challenge.
Read More >> Race in Admissions after Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard
June 29, 2023
BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs, which factor an applicant’s race into account during the admissions process, are unconstitutional based on Equal Pro-tection Clause/Fourteenth Amendment grounds. A link to the decision can be found here. The decision will have resounding impacts on institutions’ admissions processes. Our higher education attorneys are studying the decision and its implications, and we will be providing commentary and guidance soon.
Read More >> BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Affirmative Action in Admissions
May 26, 2023
The United States Department of Education announced today a delay in the anticipated date for release of its Final Rule setting forth revised Title IX regulations. The Department had previously advised that the Final Rule would be released during the month of May, but now anticipates publication in October.
Read More >> Department of Education Announces Delay in Release of New Title IX Regulations
January 6, 2023
On Dec. 15, 2022, a New York appellate court unanimously affirmed a lower court’s order, entered June 24, 2022 (discussed here), which had permanently enjoined Yeshiva University (YU) from refusing to recognize the Yeshiva Pride Alliance as an official student organization.
December 20, 2022
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel has issued a complaint against the University of Southern California (USC), the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA claiming that certain USC student-athletes are employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and that the conference and the NCAA, along with the university, can be held jointly responsible employers for the treatment of those students under the law. This NLRB litigation portends fundamental consequences for private college and university athletic programs.
October 17, 2022
Although there is clarity under federal law that colleges and universities may not permit marijuana (also known as cannabis) to be used or possessed on campus by either students or employees,[1] there is less clarity about whether colleges and universities can, or should, permit another form of cannabis—cannabidiol (CBD)—to be used or possessed on campus. Although CBD is technically legal under federal law (and the law of many states), its legal status does not tell the whole story.
October 6, 2022
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a “Fact Resource” on Oct. 4, 2022 reaffirming legal authority that Title IX protects both students and employees from discrimination based upon pregnancy and related conditions. While the new resource is broadly worded, the timing and presentation suggests that it is intended to signal an enforcement agenda targeted toward the protection of abortion rights for students and employees of educational institutions.
Read More >> New OCR Fact Sheet Reiterates that Terminating a Pregnancy is Protected Under Title IX
September 16, 2022
This is an update to our prior information memo, which you can read here.
On Sept. 14, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Yeshiva University’s application for a stay pending appeal of the permanent injunction issued by a New York State trial court in June. Accordingly, the University must now “immediately grant [ ] YU Pride Alliance the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges afforded to all other student groups at Yeshiva University,” as directed by the trial court. The Supreme Court’s September 14 decision vacated the temporary stay previously granted to Yeshiva just days earlier by Justice Sotomayor.
