Office for Civil Rights (Education) OCR

After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 barred racial discrimination in federally funded programs, the old Department of Health, Education, and Welfare used the threat of withholding money to push Southern school districts to desegregate. Title IX of the Education Amendments, signed on June 23, 1972, extended the principle to sex discrimination. When the Department of Education opened in 1980, its Office for Civil Rights took over this work. It is led by the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.

OCR enforces laws barring discrimination by race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age in schools, colleges, and other institutions that receive Education Department funds, which covers nearly every public school district and most colleges. It investigates complaints, which reached a record of more than 22,000 in fiscal 2024, opens its own compliance reviews, and can ultimately refer cases for loss of federal funding, though most end in resolution agreements. It also collects national data on school discipline, access to advanced courses, and restraint of students.

OCR's interpretations of Title IX on sexual harassment, campus discipline, and gender identity have swung sharply between administrations, and a 2024 Title IX rule was vacated by a federal court in January 2025. In March 2025 the department laid off a large share of OCR's staff and closed several of its twelve regional offices as part of efforts to shrink the department, while the office prioritized antisemitism investigations at universities and cases involving transgender students in girls' sports. Under a June 16, 2026 agreement, the Justice Department took on a coordinating role for education civil rights enforcement, while OCR kept its authority to investigate complaints. Supporters said the office was enforcing the law as written, while civil rights groups and disability advocates warned that complaint backlogs would leave students without help.