The civil rights laws enforced by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) protect all students, regardless of religious identity, from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age. None of the laws that OCR enforces expressly address religious discrimination. However, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) protects students of any religion from discrimination, including harassment, based on a student’s actual or perceived:

• shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, or
• citizenship or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.

For example, OCR can investigate complaints that students were subjected to ethnic or ancestral slurs; harassed for how they look, dress, or speak in ways linked to ethnicity or ancestry (e.g. skin color, religious attire, language spoken); or stereotyped based on perceived shared ancestral or ethnic characteristics. Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh students are examples of individuals who may be harassed for being viewed as part of a group that exhibits both ethnic and religious characteristics.

Other federal agencies enforce laws that expressly prohibit religious discrimination by schools, colleges, and universities. For example, complaints of religious discrimination in employment can be brought to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in housing (including dormitories) to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and by public schools and colleges to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Policy Guidance
Learn about different types of guidance documents, including how to comment on significant guidance.

• Race, Religion, and National Origin Tolerance Dear Colleague Letter (Dec. 31, 2015)
• Harassment and Bullying Dear Colleague Letter (Oct. 26, 2010) (see pages 5-6)
• Title VI and Coverage of Religious Groups DOJ Letter to OCR (Sept. 8, 2010)
• Religious Discrimination Dear Colleague Letter (Sept. 14, 2004) PDF (62.81K)
• First Amendment Dear Colleague Letter (July 28, 2003)
• Racial Harassment Investigative Guidance (Mar. 10, 1994)

Other OCR Resources

• Fact Sheet: Protecting Students from Discrimination Based on Shared Ancestry or Ethnic Characteristics (January 2023) PDF (297K)
• Questions and Answers on Executive Order 13899 (Combating Anti-Semitism) and OCR’s Enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (January 19, 2021) PDF (933K)
• Know Your Rights: Title VI and Religion Fact Sheet (Jan. 2017) PDF (62.81K)
• Combating Discrimination Against Jewish Students Fact Sheet (Jan. 2017) PDF (62.92K)
• Combating Discrimination Against Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian Students (MASSA) Fact Sheet (June 6, 2016)
• Exemptions from Title IX
• How to File a Discrimination Complaint with OCR
• Resources in Other Languages (including complaint forms)

Examples of OCR Case Resolutions Involving Religious Discrimination Claims

Other Federal Government Resources

• U.S. Department of Education
  -Letter and Legal Guidelines on the Equal Access Act and Recognition of Student-Led Non-Curricular Groups (Jun. 14, 2011)
  -Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools (Feb. 7, 2003)
  -Religious Expression in Public Schools: A Statement of Principles (June 1998)

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
  -Religious Discrimination Overview
  -Compliance Manual on Religious Discrimination
  -How to File a Discrimination Charge with the EEOC

• U.S. Department of Housing And Urban Development (HUD)
  -Religious Discrimination in Housing
  -How to File a Discrimination Complaint with HUD

• U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
  -Educational Opportunities Section – Religion Cases
  -Combating Religious Discrimination and Protecting Religious Freedom
  -Statement of Interest, T.E. v. Pine Bush Central School District (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 21, 2014)
  -How to File a Discrimination Complaint with DOJ
  -Hate Crime Statistics

• U.S. Department of State
  -Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
  -Special Representative to Muslim Communities
  -Office of International Religious Freedom
  -Office of Religion and Global Affairs

• U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
  -Briefing Report on Federal Civil Rights Engagement with Arab and Muslim American Communities Post 9/11 (2014)
  -Briefing Report on Campus Anti-Semitism (2006)
  -Public Education Campaign to End Campus Anti-Semitism