SOS Campus Act

Survivor Outreach and Support Campus Act or the SOS Campus Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require each institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in the programs under title IV (Student Assistance) to designate an independent advocate for campus sexual assault prevention and response (Advocate) with experience in providing sexual assault victim services.

Directs the Secretary of Education to prescribe regulations for IHEs to follow in appointing Advocates.

Requires each Advocate to: (1) report to an individual outside the body responsible for investigating and adjudicating sexual assault complaints at the IHE, (2) submit to such individual an annual report summarizing how the resources supplied to the Advocate were used, and (3) represent the interests of each student victim even when they conflict with the IHE's interests.

Directs each Advocate to:

• ensure that sexual assault victims at the IHE receive, with their consent, specified information and services;
• guide sexual assault victims who request assistance through the reporting, counseling, administrative, medical and health, academic accommodations, or legal processes of the IHE or local law enforcement;
• attend, at the request of a sexual assault victim, any administrative or IHE-based adjudication proceeding related to such assault as an advocate for the victim;
• maintain the privacy and confidentiality of the victim and any witness to such sexual assault, without notifying the IHE or any other authority of the identity of the victim or of any such witness or the alleged circumstances surrounding the reported sexual assault, unless otherwise required to do so by state law; and
• conduct a public information campaign to inform the students enrolled at the IHE of the existence of, contact information for, and services provided by the Advocate.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov