Office for Civil Rights

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www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html (exit DHFS)

The mission of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights.

OCR serves student populations facing discrimination and the advocates and institutions promoting systemic solutions to civil rights problems. An important responsibility is resolving complaints of discrimination.

Agency-initiated cases, typically called compliance reviews, permit OCR to target resources on compliance problems that appear particularly acute.OCR also provides technical assistance to help institutions achieve voluntary compliance with the civil rights laws that OCR enforces.

An important part of OCR's technical assistance is partnerships designed to develop creative approaches to preventing and addressing discrimination.

The Office for Civil Rights enforces five Federal statutes that prohibit discrimination in education programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance.

• Discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin is prohibited by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Sex discrimination is prohibited by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
• Discrimination on the basis of disability is prohibited by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• Age discrimination is prohibited by the Age Discrimination Act of 1975.

The Department of Justice also has delegated OCR responsibility for enforcing Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The civil rights laws enforced by OCR extend to:

• all state education agencies
• elementary and secondary school systems
• colleges and universities
• vocational schools
• proprietary schools
• state vocational rehabilitation agencies
• libraries
• museums that receive U.S. Department of Education funds.

Such programs or activities may include, but are not limited to:

• admissions
• recruitment
• financial aid
• academic programs
• student treatment and services
• counseling and guidance
• discipline
• classroom assignment
• grading
• vocational education
• recreation
• physical education
• athletics
• housing
• employment

Last Revised: September 08, 2006