HR5486-119

What This Bill Does

The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act expands campus safety disclosures and creates an anti-harassment grant program. It amends Higher Education Act disclosure rules so institutional security information includes campus harassment policy and campus crime statistics, with definitions for electronic communication, harassment, and related conduct. Institutions must identify counseling, mental health, and student or employee services for harassment victims or perpetrators, and designate an employee or office responsible for receiving and tracking harassment reports by students, faculty, or staff. The Education Secretary may award competitive grants to institutions, institution-nonprofit partnerships, or same-state consortia to address harassment on covered characteristics, develop prevention programs, train staff, and improve reporting and services. The Secretary must use grantee information to publish evidence-based best practices for combating harassment at institutions of higher education. The bill authorizes $50 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2031 and states that existing Title VI, Title IX, Rehabilitation Act, ADA, state, and local remedies remain available.

Who Benefits and How

College students facing harassment benefit because schools must disclose policies, services, reporting offices, and prevention practices. LGBTQ students benefit from a bill named for Tyler Clementi that targets harassment including electronic communication and cyberbullying. Higher education institutions benefit from competitive grants to build anti-harassment programs and services. Campus mental health offices benefit if grant funds support counseling and support systems for victims or perpetrators of harassment.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Education Department grant staff must administer competitive grants and publish evidence-based best-practice reports. College compliance offices must update Clery-style disclosures, policy language, report tracking, and service notifications. Institutions receiving grants must carry out authorized anti-harassment activities and report information to the Department. Federal taxpayers fund the $50 million annual authorization for fiscal years 2026 through 2031.

Key Provisions

• Requires higher education harassment-policy and campus-security disclosures.
• Covers electronic communication and cyberbullying-related harassment.
• Creates competitive Education Department grants for anti-harassment programs.
• Requires a federal evidence-based best-practices report.
• Authorizes $50 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2031 and preserves existing civil-rights remedies.