Grove City v. Bell

Western Pennsylvania. Grove City College accepted students that received federal grants, but only grants that were used for educational purposes only. The college also repeatedly refused to use state and federal financial assistance meaning Grove City did not want the governments help, plain and simple. Even though they did not want the governments elp, it led the college to stop participating in direct institutional aid programs and federal student assistance programs.

The college was required to Judge the students eligibility and to help fgure out the amount of loans the student should be given. (McCarthy) However, Grove Clty enrolled students who were given Basic Educational Opportunity under the Department of Education’s Alternate Disbursement System. The Department of Education’s Alternate Disbursement System decided that, “Grove City was a “recipient” of “Federal financial assistance” as those terms are defined in the regulations implementing Title (Leone) Grove City was then rdered to get rid of the Assurance of Compliance agreeing that, “to the extent applicable to it, with Title IX … nd all applicable requirements imposed by or pursuant to the Department’s regulation .. . to the end that . no person in the United States shall, on the basis ot sex, be … subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity for which [it] receives or benefits from Federal financial assistance from the Department. ” (McCarthy) Grove City denied the request to get rid of the Assurance of Compliance and the Department declared proceedings to show hat the students are ineligible to receive Basic Educational Opportunity Grants.

The judge then said that the federal financial assistance received compelled Grove City to enter an order of assistance until they “correct its noncompliance with Title IX and satisfies the Department that it is in compliance with the applicable regulations. ” (Grove City College v. Bell) In a 6 to 3 decision Grove City College lost it’s appeal. “According to the Court’s decision, only the financial aid/admissions office was subject to federal regulation, not the entire College. ” (Leone) However, four years later Congress passed the Civil

Rights Restoration Act of 1988 that expanded the Court’s decision and made the College subject to federal regulation. “In response, the U. S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988, also known as the Grove City Bill, over a veto by President Ronald Reagan. That law overturned Grove City College v. Bell and made it unequivocally clear that if any part of a school accepts federal aid, every part of the school is subject to Title IX regulations. ” (Leone) Grove City College also withdrew from the Pell Grant for federal internships after the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 988 was passed.

Grove City might have battled back and stood tall after the supreme court case, but it took a toll on the college. “The college must work to replace, each year, what most institutions receive annually from the federal government in student aid, research grants, or federal contracts. ” (Grove City v. Bell) The case of Grove City College v. Bell helped establish the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988. Grove City was ruled against but still kept fghting even after the fact. One good thing that came out of this court case was the fact that only parts of the ollege were affected not the entire college as a whole.