How to Report Discrimination or Harassment as an International Student in the US
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026
Where you report discrimination depends on where it happened: your school's equal opportunity office for campus issues, the EEOC for a job, HUD for housing, and police for a threat or assault. Reporting does not put your visa at risk.
🎓 Campus discrimination goes to your school's Title VI or equal opportunity office
Workplace discrimination, including CPT or OPT jobs, goes to the EEOC
🏠 Housing discrimination goes to HUD
Threats or assault go to campus or local police
A federal Office for Civil Rights complaint is also available, within 180 days
Figure out where the discrimination happened
Who you report to depends on the setting, not only on what happened to you. Identify the right office first, since a misdirected complaint slows everything down.
Classroom, dorm, financial aid, or any campus service: your school's Title VI or equal opportunity office
A job, whether on campus, CPT, or OPT: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
An apartment, landlord, or roommate-matching service: the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
A threat, assault, or vandalism: your campus police or local police department
Report to your school first
Any college that receives federal funding must have a Title VI coordinator or equal opportunity office and must investigate complaints of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. Find this office on your school's website, usually listed under "Equal Opportunity," "Civil Rights," or "Compliance." Reporting internally does not stop you from also filing with a federal agency later.
File a complaint with the Department of Education
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Education investigates Title VI complaints against schools that receive federal funds. File through the OCR complaint portal within 180 days of the last incident, unless you show good cause for a later filing, according to the Department of Education . You need your name and contact details, the name of the person discriminated against, the school's name, and a description of what happened.
File a charge with the EEOC for workplace discrimination
If discrimination happened at a job, including work through CPT or OPT, file a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC . You start an online inquiry, then an EEOC staff member interviews you before the charge is filed. You have 180 days from the discriminatory act to file, extended to 300 days in states that have their own anti-discrimination agency.
File a complaint with HUD for housing discrimination
Landlords, property managers, and roommate-matching platforms cannot discriminate based on race, national origin, religion, or other protected traits under the Fair Housing Act. File with HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity within one year of the last incident.
When to call the police
Physical assault, property damage, or a direct threat is a criminal matter, not only a civil rights complaint. Call 911 for an emergency, or your campus police for an on-campus incident. Ask for a police report number, since you will need it for any civil rights complaint or later follow-up.
Your visa status is not at risk for reporting
Filing a discrimination complaint as a victim or a witness does not violate your F-1 or J-1 status. Your DSO confirms this and helps you understand how a police report or an investigation might affect your school records, though it will not affect your immigration status on its own.
Keep records as you go
Save emails, texts, and messages related to the incident
Write down dates, times, locations, and witnesses right away
Ask every office you contact for a case or reference number
Keep copies of everything you submit
Deadlines to keep in mind
| Where you file | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Office for Civil Rights (Title VI) | 180 days from the last incident |
| EEOC (employment) | 180 days, or 300 days in states with their own agency |
| HUD (housing) | 1 year from the last incident |
Campus offices often set their own shorter internal deadlines too, so check your school's policy as soon as an incident happens.
What counts as discrimination or harassment
Discrimination means being treated worse than others because of your race, national origin, religion, or a similar protected trait, such as being denied housing, graded unfairly, or left out of a work assignment. Harassment adds unwelcome conduct severe or frequent enough to create a hostile environment, including slurs, mocking your accent, or repeated comments about your immigration status. A single rude comment usually does not meet the legal bar on its own, but a pattern, or one serious incident, often does.
Retaliation against you is illegal too
A school, employer, or landlord cannot punish you for filing a good faith complaint, whether that means a sudden grade drop, a schedule cut at work, or a lease non-renewal. Report retaliation as a separate violation, alongside or instead of the original discrimination claim. Document any change that follows shortly after you report, since timing matters for a retaliation claim.
Getting support while you report
Your school's counseling center, international student office, and sometimes a student legal services office support you through the process, separate from the investigating office. Some schools also offer language support or an advocate to sit with you during interviews. Ask early, since these services help you understand each step before you commit to a formal complaint.
If you are unsure which office to contact
Start with your school's international student office. Staff there deal with these questions often and point you to the right internal office or federal agency, even if the incident happened off campus.