The Title IX Contract Quagmire

Authors

Bryce Freeman, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

Courts and scholars have long grappled with whether and to what extent educational institutions are in contract with their students. If they are, then students can sue their private universities for breaching that contract— ordinarily understood as the student handbook and other materials—when the institution levies a disciplinary action against the student. But what promises, both implicit and explicit, do private universities make to their students that courts should enforce? This question has resurfaced in the Title IX context, where courts have largely drawn clear dividing lines between the rights of public and private university students. This Comment provides a framework to understand courts’ approaches to contract law and higher education as well as implications for Title IX.

Recommended Citation

Bryce Freeman, The Title IX Contract Quagmire, 118 Mich. L. Rev. 909 (2020).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol118/iss5/6