On November 8, 1990, President Bush signed the "Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act of 1990". The Act applies to every institution of higher education that receives federal financial aid. Title II of the Act was known as the "Campus Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990". It requires institutions of higher education to distribute to all current students and employees, and applicants for enrollment or employment, two types of information:
Amendments enacted in 1998 renamed Title II, which is now known as the "Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act".

The amendments require the disclosure of crimes that are reported to police and campus officials other than police, along with a breakdown of locations of criminal activity to be specified as on-campus, non-campus, residence hall or public property.