Choosing a postsecondary institution is a major decision for students
and their families. Along with academic, financial and geographic
considerations, the issue of campus safety is a vital concern. In 1990,
Congress enacted the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990
(Title II of Public Law 101-542), which amended the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (HEA). This act required all postsecondary institutions
participating in HEA's Title IV student financial assistance programs to
disclose campus crime statistics and security information. The act was
amended in 1992, 1998, 2000 and 2008. The 1998 amendments renamed the
law the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus
Crime Statistics Act in memory of a student who was slain in her dorm
room in 1986. It is generally referred to as the Clery Act and is in
section 485(f) of the HEA. On March 7, 2013, the Violence Against Women
Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) (Public Law 113-14) was signed into
law. VAWA includes amendments to the Clery...