October 2020 Rescission of 2016 Clery Handbook: What Does it Mean for Colleges and Universities? – ACE
- The U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Office has announced that it is rescinding the 2016 Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting and publishing a new Clery-related Appendix of the FSA Handbook.
- This Issue Brief explains some highlights of the changes outlined in the Education Department’s announcement, as well as some thoughts on key questions posed by college and university administrators.
Since 1990, The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Criminal Statistics Act (“Clery Act”) has required colleges and universities to publish crime statistics and information about campus safety, and to issue warnings and notifications. For the last four years, Clery Act compliance guidance has been provided to institutions by the U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) in the 265-page 2016 Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting (“Clery Handbook”). However, an October 9 announcement (“Announcement”) by the Department rescinded the Clery Handbook and replaced it with a 13-page document published by the Department’s Federal Student Aid Office (“FSA”). This new Clery-related appendix to the FSA Handbook (“Appendix”) will be effective for the 2021 reporting year.
Given the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the many other changes and directives by the federal executive branch impacting higher education institutions in recent months, college and university leaders and administrators are undoubtedly asking: What, if anything, should we do differently (1) in the short term and (2) in the longer term? Reasonably prudent answers are that: (1) Nothing more, less, or different needs to be done in the short term unless you wish to consider making changes, and (2) a prudent longer term approach may be to wait to see whether the post-election Department reverts to an approach where sub-regulatory guidance, such as the Clery Handbook, informs substantially the interpretation and enforcement of the law.