The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), a branch of the Department of Education charged with investigating claims of discrimination in schools and other programs the department funds, received a record-high 19,201 complaints in 2023. This was up 2% from 2022.
The OCR enforces a range of civil rights laws, including Titles II, VI, and IX. Anyone can file a discrimination complaint, whether they were the victim themselves or are filing on behalf of someone else.
What is a civil rights violation?
A variety of civil rights laws, and in some cases, the US Constitution, protect Americans against discrimination based on protected categories: race, disability, religion, immigration or citizenship status, language and national origin, age, genetic identification, servicemember status, and familial status (which includes marital, parental, and pregnancy status).
They protect people in settings including housing, healthcare, the workplace, public spaces, businesses, polling places — and education.
Which civil rights laws does the Department of Education’s OCR enforce?
The OCR responds to alleged violations of:
- Title VI, barring discrimination based on race, color, or national origin
- Title IX, barring discrimination based on sex
- Section 504 and Title II, barring discrimination based on disability
- Age Discrimination Act of 1975, barring discrimination based on age (does not include employment)
- Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, prohibiting access discrimination by school facilities
In fiscal year 2023, 96% of complaints fell under three of these: Sex-based discrimination under Title IX (42.5%), disability-based discrimination under Section 504 and Title II (35.1%), and race, color, and national origin-based discrimination under Title VI (18.4%). The remaining four percent of complaints were related to age or equal access discrimination.
Title IX: Discrimination based on sex
In 2023, 8,151 complaints claimed Title IX violations. Of those, 5,590 were filed by one person, altering the ratio of complaints. The Department of Education doesn’t detail this individual’s filings, but it’s the second year in a row that one person has filed a large number of Title IX cases. In 2022, one individual filed 7,330 of the 9,498 cases.
Eighteen percent of complaints alleged discrimination in athletics. Under Title IX, male and female athletes should have equal opportunities to participate in sports: adequate funding, scholarships, and access to resources.
Title IX athletic protections are evolving: In 2023, the Biden administration changed Title IX to prohibit blanket bans on transgender athletes, but President Trump signed an executive order prohibiting transgender women from competing in women’s sports in January 2025.
Sexual harassment or violence accounted for another 12% of 2023 complaints, and different treatment or denial of benefits made up 8%.
Along with all the incoming filings, the OCR also resolved 7,757 open Title IX complaints.
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Section 504 and ADA Title II: Discrimination based on disability
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits federally funded facilities from discriminating against or denying benefits to someone because of their disability.
Title II of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act states that people with disabilities cannot be denied services, benefits, or the ability to participate in activities.
Over half of allegations brought under these two laws (57.4%) were related to three categories. The most filings concerned free access to public education, known as “FAPE”; Section 504 requires schools to provide students with personalized services to meet their needs at no cost and spawned 23.9% of complaints.
Complaints alleging different treatment or denial of benefits made up 18.9%, and retaliation another 14.6%.
Title VI: Discrimination based on race, color, or national origin
Like Title IX, Section 504, and Title II, Title VI bans any federally funded activity — including schools — from discriminating against someone because of race, color, or national origin.
Different treatment or denial of benefits because of race is the top Title VI complaint, accounting for 39.1% of Title VI allegations. Racial harassment is second (18.4%), and retaliation is third (16.0%).
Allegations of different treatment or denial of benefits also appear under Title IX and under Section 504/Title II.
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Page sources and methodology
All of the data on the page was sourced directly from government agencies. The analysis and final review was performed by USAFacts.
Department of Education Office of Civil Rights
Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report
