Correction: Penn State-Education Investigation story

HARRISBURG, Pa. — In a story July 15 about Penn State's receipt of a preliminary federal report on whether it complied with campus crime-reporting requirements, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the university said it was not permitted by law to release information about the report at this time. Penn State said the Department of Education was prohibited from disclosing details of the report, and the university was choosing to keep them confidential.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Penn State gets report on federal Sandusky probe

Penn State gets early report on federal probe into reporting requirements in Sandusky scandal

By MARK SCOLFORO and PHILIP ELLIOTT

Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Penn State has received a preliminary report from the federal government regarding whether its handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal complied with campus crime reporting requirements, the university said Monday.

Pennsylvania prosecutors have alleged that high-ranking university officials failed to properly report suspected abuse of children by Sandusky, a retired assistant football coach who was convicted a year ago of 45 counts of child sexual abuse.

Penn State said school officials have given federal reviewers access to the records and information they have requested to see whether the school complied with a 1990 U.S. law called the Clery Act. The law, named for Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman who was raped and killed in a campus residence hall in 1986, requires universities to publish annual reports and maintain a daily crime log.

Violations of the law can result in a school losing its authority to offer federal student aid, and although that has never happened, the nature of the allegations against Penn State was unprecedented and had many of the school's strongest allies concerned. The Education Department has leveled fines, however, of up to $27,500 per violation.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in student aid could be at stake. In the year that ended June 30, 2012, Penn State benefited from $577 million in direct federal loans, $85 million in Pell and Teach grants and $16 million in work-study and Perkins loans.

"The department can impose fairly substantial fines but they have never elected to take student financial aid away from current students because the institution failed to act in the past. I think that's very unlikely," said Terry Hartle, a top official with colleges' lobbying operation at the American Council on Education.

"By definition, this process is expected to be confidential. It's in everybody's interest that this is the case," Hartle said. "Neither institution wants this process to be taking place in public."

The university said it has hired a full-time employee to help it comply with the Clery Act.

The contents of the Education Department's report were closely held. The law that governs the review process prescribes secrecy ahead of the report's final draft.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are expected to heavily pressure the Education Department once the findings become public. Given the school's high profile in Pennsylvania and the potential impact of the Education Department's report, lawmakers are expected to consult with officials on what penalties could be prescribed for the university.

Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence and maintains his innocence.