Clery Act

Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act[1]
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleJeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act
NicknamesClery Act
Enacted bythe 101st United States Congress
Citations
Public lawPub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 101–542
Codification
Acts amendedHigher Education Act of 1965
Titles amended20
U.S.C. sections amended20 U.S.C. § 1092, et al
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate as "Student Athlete Right-to-Know Act" (S. 580) by Bill Bradley (D-NJ) on March 15, 1989
  • Committee consideration by Senate Labor
  • Passed the Senate on February 22, 1990 (voice vote)
  • Passed the House as the "Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act" on June 5, 1990 (without objection)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on October 16, 1990; agreed to by the House on October 22, 1990 (voice vote) and by the Senate on October 24, 1990 (voice vote)
  • Signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on November 8, 1990
Major amendments
Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 102–26
Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 102–325
Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 105–244 (text) (PDF)
Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 106–386 (text) (PDF)

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or Clery Act, signed in 1990, is a federal statute codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f), with implementing regulations in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at 34 CFR 668.46.

The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses. Compliance is monitored by the United States Department of Education, which can impose civil penalties, up to $69,733[2] per violation, against institutions for each infraction and can suspend institutions from participating in federal student financial aid programs.

The law is named after Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University student who was raped and murdered in her campus residence hall in 1986. Her murder triggered a backlash against unreported crime on campuses across the country.[3]

  1. ^ Originally, the Student Right-To-Know and Campus Security Act
  2. ^ "Clery Act Fines Increased to $67,544". SAFE Campuses, LLC. 31 January 2023.
  3. ^ Gross, Ken (1990-02-19). "After Their Daughter Is Murdered at College, Her Grieving Parents Mount a Crusade for Campus Safety". People.com. Retrieved 2011-10-30.