H.R. 6857 — Protecting Students on Campus Act of 2025

This section directs the Secretary of Education, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, to carry out an annual public awareness campaign regarding rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (i.e., prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance). The campaign must include appealing visual and auditory elements distributed to institutions of higher education for physical posting in high-traffic public places (e.g., student centers) and digital posting on high-traffic webpages (e.g., student services), with the Secretary authorized to contract with a nonprofit organization for implementation. This section further amends the Higher Education Act program participation agreement (20 U.S.C. 1094(a))—which conditions an institution's eligibility for federal student aid programs on specified compliance requirements—by adding a new paragraph (30) requiring institutions to (1) prominently display on their homepage a link to the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights webpage for submitting Title VI complaints and (2) annually display and post the awareness campaign materials in high-traffic campus locations and webpages.

This section directs the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department of Education to provide monthly briefings to Congress, beginning not later than 30 days after enactment of this Act and ending one year after enactment, covering (1) the number of complaints received by the Office for Civil Rights in the previous month alleging discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (i.e., in federally funded programs), disaggregated by basis of discrimination; (2) the Office's plans to address those complaints and any investigations opened in response; and (3) data on the length of time those complaints remain open. It further requires the Assistant Secretary to submit a written report containing this briefing information to Congress not later than 48 hours prior to each briefing, in a manner protecting personally identifiable information per applicable privacy laws.

This section requires each institution of higher education (IHE) receiving federal funds to submit an annual report to the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Education detailing (1) the number of complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (2) an analysis of such complaints and their substance; and (3) a narrative of actions taken in response. It further directs the IG to conduct an annual audit of the top 5% of IHEs based on per capita Title VI complaints (controlling for student population) to assess complaint-handling processes and potential referrals to the Department's Office for Civil Rights. Finally, it requires the IG to conduct a study analyzing and quantifying disparities between Title VI complaints submitted to IHEs versus the Office for Civil Rights.