A Legislative History of
The Clery Act
The Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act (Public Law 101-542) was signed into law by President Bush in 1990 and went into effect on Sept. 1, 1991. Title II of this act is known as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990.
This act amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) by adding campus crime statistics for the most recent three years, as well as disclosure of the institution’s current security policies. Institutions are also required to issue timely warnings when necessary.
All public and private Title IV eligible institutions must comply with the requirements of this act which is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
This law was amended when Congress enacted the Campus Sexual Assault Victim’s Bill of Rights as part of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992. (Public Law 102-325, Section 486 (C), giving victims of sexual assault on campus certain basic rights.
In addition, institutions are required to develop and distribute a policy statement concerning their campus sexual assault programs targeting the prevention of sex offenses. This statement must also address the procedures to be followed if a sex offense occurs.
The most recent version of this law was passed as part of the Higher Education Amendments Act of 1998 (Section 486 (e) of Public Law 105-244).
The official title under this act is the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 U.S.C. 1092 (f). On Nov. 1, 1999, ED issued the final regulations which went into effect on July 1, 2000.
The amendments require ED to collect, analyze, and report to Congress on the incidences of crime on college campuses.
The amendments also expand the requirement of the Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 that all institutions of higher education participating in the federal student aid programs must disclose information regarding the incidence of crimes on campus as part of their campus security report to students, faculty, staff, and, upon request, prospective students.
The 1998 amendments made several changes to the disclosure requirements.
Among these changes were the addition of two crimes (Arson and Negligent Manslaughter) and three locations (residence halls, non-campus buildings or property not geographically contiguous to the campus, and public property immediately adjacent to a facility that is owned or operated by the institution for education purposes) that schools must include in the reported statistics.
Institutions that have a campus police or security department are required to maintain a daily crime log that is available to the public.
The Clery Act was further amended in October 2000 by the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act (Section 1601 of Public Law 106-386).
The changes went into effect on Oct. 28, 2002. Beginning in 2003, institutions are required to notify the campus community where law enforcement agency information provided by a state concerning registered sex offenders who are on campus may be obtained.
The text for the regulations, as well as Section 668.41, Reporting and Disclosure of Information, are included in this appendix.
