I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 10534 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of 
higher education, as a condition of participating in programs under 
title IV of such Act, to annually conduct a survey to measure student 
experiences with discrimination at such institutions, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2024 
Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania (for herself, Mr. CARSON, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 
and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 
institutions of higher education, as a condition of partici-
pating in programs under title IV of such Act, to annu-
ally conduct a survey to measure student experiences 
with discrimination at such institutions, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Positive Col-
lege Campus Racial Climates Act’’. 
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SECTION 2. ASSESSING DISCRIMINATION AT INSTITUTIONS 
OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 
(a) NATIONAL CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY.—Part B 
of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 124. NATIONAL CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY. 
‘‘(a) SURVEY.—The Secretary shall develop an an-
nual survey to measure student experiences with discrimi-
nation at institutions of higher education that participate 
in any program under title IV, which shall be known as 
the National Campus Climate Survey (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘Survey’). The Survey shall collect from 
students the following information: 
‘‘(1) The demographic information of the stu-
dent, including the number of years of an under-
graduate or graduate education the student has 
completed. 
‘‘(2) The number of instances of covert and 
overt acts of racial discrimination the student has 
experienced on a campus or other property of the in-
stitution. 
‘‘(3) Responses from the student recorded on a 
numeric scale from 1 to 10 regarding the extent that 
the student— 
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‘‘(A) feels prepared to engage in a racially 
diverse democracy and workforce; 
‘‘(B) is concerned about experiencing cov-
ert and overt acts of racial discrimination on a 
campus or other property of the institution; and 
‘‘(C) is satisfied with how the institution 
responds to alleged incidents of racial discrimi-
nation reported to the institution. 
‘‘(4) Any additional information as determined 
appropriate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION.—Not later than September 30, 
2025, and not later than each September 30 thereafter, 
the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) prepare the content of the Survey; and 
‘‘(2) distribute the Survey to each institution of 
higher education that participates in any program 
under title IV through the portal established under 
subsection (d)(1). 
‘‘(c) RESPONSE COLLECTION.—Not later than May 
31, 2026, and not later than each May 31 thereafter, each 
institution of higher education that participates in any 
program under title IV shall— 
‘‘(1) conduct the Survey distributed through the 
portal established under subsection (d)(1) among 
students of the institution and accept student re-
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sponses to such Survey for a period of at least 60 
days; 
‘‘(2) publish a report of the results of the Sur-
vey collected by the institution that excludes any 
personally identifiable information on a publically 
available website of the institution; 
‘‘(3) notify students and staff of the institution 
when such report is published; and 
‘‘(4) upload the results of the Survey collected 
by the institution to the portal established under 
subsection (d)(1). 
‘‘(d) PORTAL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall publish 
a portal on a publically available website of the De-
partment to facilitate the distribution of the Survey 
to, and to collect responses to the Survey uploaded 
by, institutions of higher education that participate 
in any program under title IV. 
‘‘(2) DATABASE.—The portal established under 
paragraph (1) shall include a searchable database of 
the responses to the Survey uploaded to the portal. 
Such responses shall be— 
‘‘(A) disaggregated by the institution of 
higher education that the response pertains to; 
and 
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‘‘(B) anonymized to remove any personally 
identifiable information. 
‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall establish a 
website and a toll-free telephone number to provide assist-
ance and resources to institutions of higher education re-
garding the collection of responses to the Survey. 
‘‘(f) ANONYMOUS RESPONSES.—The Survey shall in-
clude an option for students to submit responses anony-
mously. 
‘‘(g) MONITORING.—The Office for Civil Rights of 
the Department— 
‘‘(1) shall monitor the responses to the Survey 
uploaded to the portal established under subsection 
(d)(1); and 
‘‘(2) may use such responses as the basis for 
opening an investigation of alleged discrimination at 
an institution of higher education. 
‘‘SEC. 125. TRANSPARENCY REGARDING COMPLAINTS RE-
LATED TO DISCRIMINATION. 
‘‘(a) Not later than October 31, 2025, and not less 
than twice each year thereafter, each institution of higher 
education that participates in any program under title IV 
shall post on a publically available website of the institu-
tion and email students of the institution the following in-
formation: 
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‘‘(1) A guide of the policies of the institution 
that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, 
color, or national origin (including discrimination 
based on actual or perceived shared ancestry or eth-
nic characteristics), including discrimination against 
individuals who are or are perceived to be members 
of a religion. 
‘‘(2) Data from the most recently completed 
academic year regarding— 
‘‘(A) complaints asserting instances of dis-
crimination described in paragraph (1) against 
a student that are reported to the institution; 
and 
‘‘(B) complaints asserting instances of dis-
crimination described in paragraph (1) against 
a student that are reported to the Office for 
Civil Rights of the Department of Education, to 
the extent such complaints are known to the in-
stitution. 
‘‘(b) Not later than October 31, 2025, and not less 
than once every 4 years thereafter, each institution of 
higher education that participates in any program under 
title IV shall audit all reporting systems of the institution 
that accept complaints asserting instances of discrimina-
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tion described in subsection (a)(1) against a student. Each 
such audit shall evaluate— 
‘‘(1) how each such reporting system— 
‘‘(A) accepts, processes, and resolves a 
complaint; and 
‘‘(B) solicits input and feedback on the re-
porting system from the individual who sub-
mitted such complaint, including how the insti-
tution communicates with such individual on 
matters regarding the complaint; and 
‘‘(2) how the institution— 
‘‘(A) sanctions an individual found to be 
non-complaint with the policies of the institu-
tion regarding instances of discrimination de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1) against a student; 
and 
‘‘(B) could improve the accessibility and 
ease of navigation of reporting systems.’’. 
(b) OCR ANNUAL REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(b) of the De-
partment of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 
3413(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(3) The report required by paragraph (1) shall in-
clude an analysis of the complaints the Office for Civil 
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‘‘(ii) the number of complaints with waiv-
ers approved for filing after the 180-day filing 
period has expired.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by this subsection shall take effect 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
(c) PROGRAM
PARTICIPATION
AGREEMENT
RE-
QUIREMENTS.—Section 487(a) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(30) The institution will comply with the re-
quirements of section 124(c). 
‘‘(31) The institution will comply with the re-
quirements of section 125.’’. 
(d) AUDIT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the De-
partment of Education shall conduct an audit of the com-
plaint process used by the Office of Civil Rights of the 
Department of Education for complaints of alleged viola-
tions of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 
2000d et seq.). 
Æ 
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