In the last two decades, the courts have offered much guidance on this subject, but no single decision has prescribed a single set of rules that may be applied in all cases.
Due process is a concept of fundamental fairness.
It is not a fixed or inflexible concept unrelated to time or circumstances. Thus, in disciplinary actions, the greater the interest of the student at stake, the greater the procedural safeguards of the higher education institution should be. There is no doubt that the interest of the student is an important one in a case involving sanctions such as suspension or expulsion. In such cases, the institution's procedures must be fundamentally fair and well designed to promote reliable fact-finding. In that case, the court held that tax-supported educational institutions must give students notice and the opportunity for a hearing before expulsion for misconduct.