The U.S. Department of Education has fined Liberty University a record $14 million for violating a federal law that requires colleges to report crimes on campus, NPR reports. The settlement, announced by department officials on Tuesday, came after a lengthy investigation that found numerous violations of the Clery Act, a federal law that requires colleges to record, and warn their communities about, campus crimes and dangerous situations.
The department's findings are detailed in a more than 100-page report, which describes how, from 2016 to 2023, the Christian university in Lynchburg, Va., demonstrated "serious, persistent, and systemic violations." The report says the college discouraged students from reporting crimes, did not adequately respond to incidents of sexual violence, failed to tell the campus about criminal activities or dangerous situations (such as gas leaks), and did not maintain an accurate or complete list of crimes. In addition to the $14 million dollar fine, the settlement also stipulates that Liberty spend $2 million on improvements to campus safety throughout a two-year federal monitoring period, which ends in April 2026.