Latitudes: What Title IX Changes Would Mean for Study Abroad

Proposed rules would reverse Trump-era policy for sexual misconduct overseas. And calls for an investigation into a student-visa sting. ADVERTISEMENT [Latitudes Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. Title IX rule would require investigation of sexual misconduct on study abroad The words “study abroad” or “education abroad” barely appear in the 700-page proposed U.S. Department of Education regulation for [Title IX]( the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination. Yet the [new rule]( could significantly change how colleges handle accusations of sexual assault and harassment for students studying overseas under Title IX. Colleges would be required to investigate sexual misconduct that may create a hostile environment for students, even if the misconduct happens off campus or out of the country. If enacted, the regulation would be a reversal of current policy, approved during the Trump administration. Under a 2020 rule, not only are colleges not required to investigate possible Title IX violations if they occur abroad, but complaints are subject to mandatory dismissal if the incidents do not happen in the United States, said Andrea Stagg, director of consulting services at Grand River Solutions, which advises colleges on Title IX. That held true even if the college operated its own program or campus overseas. Under the proposed rule, an incident that occurs while studying abroad would be subject to Title IX investigation if it “creates or contributes to a hostile environment.” For example, institutions could have to look into cases of sexual assault that occurred when students were overseas if they lead to a hostile environment when the students return to their home campus. Likewise, colleges would be required to investigate allegations that students were graded differently because of their sex while on education-abroad programming and lost scholarships as a result. Stagg said government stances on Title IX — which, if the proposed rule is approved, will have been altered under [three successive administrations]( — have been on a “roller coaster.” Still, she said, the impact on how colleges handle sexual misconduct overseas may be less sweeping for many institutions than it might seem. That’s because the new rule largely returns to the policy under President Barack Obama. But it’s also because that while the regulation changed in 2020, colleges’ practices for handling sexual discrimination and harassment on education abroad often did not. In some instances, sexual assaults overseas were subject to investigation under the [Clery Act]( the federal campus-safety law. And many colleges continued to pursue inquiries as a matter of campus policy, under student codes of conduct or other institutional procedures, even though requirements under federal law had shifted, Stagg said. “Colleges didn’t stop responding to these cases just because the law changed,” she told me. “We care about our students, even if regulations don’t require us to act.” If the rule does go into effect, the most significant change for colleges and their study-abroad programs may be their legal liability, subjecting them to possible lawsuits under Title IX for sexual misconduct that occurs overseas. They could also need to update their training for education-abroad and other staff members, Stagg said. The public can submit comments on the proposed regulations until September 12. ADVERTISEMENT Civil-rights groups ask for investigation of student-visa sting Civil-rights groups have sent a [letter]( to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, asking for an investigation of a sham university set up by the federal government to expose student-visa fraud. Some 40 organizations are asking the department’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to look into the sting operation and to offer redress to students who lost their visa status when the government abruptly shut down the University of Farmington. The fake college was set up in 2015 as part of a crackdown against [visa mills]( institutions that allow foreign nationals to come to the United States on student visas with the intent to work, not to study. Homeland Security closed Farmington in 2019 and arrested eight people who had recruited students. It also began removal procedures against the students who it said knowingly committed visa fraud. As part of the deception, Farmington had an [elaborate website]( with lists of majors and courses, a social-media presence, a Latin motto, and a physical address, in the Detroit suburbs. Investigators even got the college approved by a real accreditor. (I [talked]( to NPR’s Weekend Edition about the investigation and its implications when the news broke.) The civil-rights groups said the government’s behavior amounts to entrapment. Many of the students, almost all of whom were from India, had their student-visa status terminated and lost the tuition and fees, totaling more than $6 million, they had paid. “The students who enrolled in the University of Farmington were simply attempting to pursue their education at what they believed to be a legitimate and accredited university in the United States,” the groups wrote. “These students suffered great injustice at the hands of” the department. Related: Another [phony university]( may be preying on international students. SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. International enrollments fall at the University of California The University of California campuses will welcome [fewer international first-year students]( this fall, the result of an effort to set aside more spots for local students. The university system’s nine undergraduate campuses will enroll a [record number]( of Californians, while the share of students from out-of-state or overseas will decrease. Offers to international applicants dropped 12 percent, while those to freshmen from other states fell 19 percent. Declines in the number of international students at California’s most prestigious campuses, which are especially popular with foreign students, were even steeper: by 26 percent at Berkeley, by 32 percent at Los Angeles, and by 45 percent at San Diego. But the drop-off was also exacerbated by a bulge of students last fall, as those who had deferred admission because of Covid-19 enrolled. The total number of freshmen students decreased from 132,353 in fall 2021 to 125,597 this fall. State lawmakers had [capped]( the number of international and out-of-state students at top California campuses. It’s a reversal of policy from the previous decade, when the state’s public colleges sought to [attract more foreign undergraduates]( in a bid to increase tuition revenues. SPONSOR CONTENT | London Metropolitan University [The hidden costs of recruiting international students]( Around the globe Visa-processing delays are the worst since stricter security screening led to increased [wait times]( after the 2001 terror attacks. International students are returning to Duke University’s [campus in China]( for the first time since the pandemic began. A University of Tennessee professor falsely accused of being a spy is calling on President Biden to [withdraw]( the U.S. attorney nomination of a lawyer who had prosecuted him as part of the China Initiative. Another professor charged under the China Initiative has led a research team that is said to have discovered the [best semiconductor]( ever found. Prosecutors [dismissed]( charges against Gang Chen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after they said they could no longer prove their case. The Stevens Institute is conducting its 2022 survey on virtual-exchange programming. Participate [here]( through September 15. A top British research institute has reversed course and apologized to a Russian student whose acceptance to a doctoral program was revoked because of her [nationality](. Several British universities may have removed books from [reading lists]( or made them optional, to protect students from “challenging” content. Young Nigerian women may be lured to Cyprus by [human traffickers]( promising them college admission. More foreign academics are being denied entry to [India]( in what critics said is an effort to limit researchers’ academic freedom. The American-backed University of Afghanistan is now an institution in [exile](. Foreign-born early-career scholars could be less likely to report [bullying]( by scientists in positions of authority because their legal status leaves them vulnerable. Geopolitics is complicating universities’ international engagement, a [new paper]( concludes. When it comes to China, academics “should absolutely be critical of conservative yellow peril tactics,” one professor [writes]( but “we also need to reckon more seriously with the role of [Chinese Communist Party] influence in higher education and the threat that it poses to academic freedom and to the safety of our students.” ADVERTISEMENT And finally … The recession of 2008-9 appeared to have dealt American colleges a body blow: Endowment returns bottomed out. As unemployment rates rose, fewer families could afford private-college tuition. In public-college systems, spending per student plummeted, falling, on average, 18 percent between 2008 and 2011. Yet higher education largely averted financial disaster back then, in part because institutions were able to attract deep-pocketed international students. It’s a familiar story for colleges, which have managed to grow themselves out of crisis after crisis, tapping new markets at home and abroad. But they may have reached the limits of Houdini-ing their way out of decline by getting bigger, as a demographic cliff looms and skepticism about the value of a degree deepens. “There really is an arithmetic problem here,” one expert told me for my latest Chronicle cover story, “[The Shrinking of Higher Ed]( Thanks for reading. I always welcome your feedback and ideas for future reporting, so drop me a line, at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on [Twitter]( or [LinkedIn](. If you like this newsletter, please share it with colleagues and friends. They can [sign up here](. NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK [Please let us know what you thought of today's newsletter in this three-question survey](. This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Read this newsletter on the web](. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2022 [The Chronicle of Higher Education]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037