OFFICES


OCR: Office for Civil Rights
   Current Section
U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights: Ensuring Equal Access To High-Quality Education

Revised September 2004

The Laws Apply to Educational Institutions

The civil rights laws extend to most educational institutions in the nation, since most educational institutions receive some type of federal financial assistance. This means that the civil rights laws cover:

  • almost 15,000 school districts;
  • more than 4,100 colleges and universities;
  • about 5,000 institutions that confer certificates below the associate degree level, such as training schools for truck drivers and schools for cosmetology; and
  • thousands of other entities, such as libraries, museums, vocational rehabilitation agencies and correctional facilities.

The Laws Apply to Students and Employees

The civil rights laws protect large numbers of students attending, or applying to attend, our education institutions, as follows:

  • about 54.3 million students attending elementary and secondary schools; and
  • about 16.4 million students attending our colleges and universities.
In certain situations, the laws also protect persons who are employed, or are seeking employment, at education institutions.

 


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Last Modified: 10/04/2005