On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in two cases challenging universities’ consideration of race as a factor in student admissions: Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College; and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina.

Perkins Coie’s Markus Funk analyzes the broad scope of the Department of Education’s proposed changes to Title IX’s implementing regulations, and effect finalized rules would have on campus disciplinary procedures.

On October 31, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court held oral arguments in two landmark cases, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, arising out of the affirmative action policies of two elite university systems, Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC).

As schools across the country welcome students back for the 2022-23 academic year, several prestigious universities are grappling with a civil antitrust suit that could have major ramifications for how they allocate and award financial aid.

National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 and implementation guidance from the National Science and Technology Council direct federal agencies to standardize and enhance disclosure and security requirements that apply to federally funded research and development.

A Colorado state court recently joined a growing chorus of courts across the country rejecting insurance companies’ arguments that there is no coverage for COVID-19-related losses and costs under commercial property insurance policies because COVID-19 cannot cause “physical loss or damage” to property as a matter of law.

The gender equity movement focused higher education institutions on pay equality. For example, in 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued the University of Denver alleging gender discrimination in professor compensation that resulted in the university paying $2.66 million to resolve the matter. Now, the recent racial justice movement has raised the stakes for these institutions.

As colleges and universities reopen, the potential for another shutdown and lawsuits over refunds for tuition, fees, and health and safety looms.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions of higher education are facing significant revenue challenges and incurring extra expenses for which their insurance programs should provide relief.

It’s been one year since federal agents made dozens of arrests in the nationwide college admissions scandal. Funk and Trombino provide four guideposts to help colleges and universities needing to investigate allegations of misconduct steer themselves, and their communities, through such moments of crisis.

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) recently launched investigations into at least a half dozen top research institutions for failing to disclose foreign-sourced gifts or contracts.

The wave of federal charges against some fifty individuals for college admissions fraud and testing bribery schemes caught numerous universities and much of the United States by surprise.