Public or Private? A Student Due-Process Decision Tree
Written by Zachary Gaynor, attorney · The Florida Bar, admitted 2016 · court admissions. Reviewed 3 September 2026.
What decides how much process a student is owed?
Two questions, in this order. Is the institution public or private? That decides whether constitutional due process applies at all. Is the decision academic or disciplinary? That decides how much process is owed. The four combinations lead to genuinely different analyses, and most confusion in student cases comes from mixing them up.
Start here: is your school public or private?
Step 1 · My school is public (a state university, state college or community college)
Constitutional due process applies, because a public institution is a state actor. A student facing suspension or expulsion has a protected interest, and the Fourteenth Amendment requires some process before it is taken away. The classic statement is Goss v. Lopez (1975) — notice of the charges and an opportunity to respond. Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education (5th Cir. 1961) established the principle in higher education.
In Florida there is more. Fla. Stat. § 1006.60 gives students at public institutions specific statutory rights in disciplinary proceedings, including written notice at least 7 business days beforehand; the witness list and all known information, including exculpatory information, at least 5 business days beforehand; the institution carrying the burden of proving a violation by a preponderance; and the right to an advisor, advocate or legal representative who may directly participate in all aspects of the proceeding, including the presentation of relevant information and questioning of witnesses.
Now go to Step 2 — because these protections attach to disciplinary proceedings, and institutions frequently characterize a case as academic instead.
Step 2 · Public school, and the decision is disciplinary (conduct, an honor-code charge, hazing, a Title IX matter)
This is where student protections are strongest. Courts expect notice of the specific charge, an opportunity to be heard before an impartial decision-maker, and a decision based on the record. In Florida the § 1006.60 rights above apply directly, and a departure from them is a concrete, citable failure rather than a general fairness complaint.
Three things worth checking immediately: whether the notice actually stated the charge, whether exculpatory material was disclosed, and whether the person who decided was also the person who investigated.
Step 2 · Public school, and the decision is academic (failing grades, dismissal for academic performance, a promotion committee)
Courts give institutions substantially more deference here. Board of Curators of the University of Missouri v. Horowitz (1978) held that an academic dismissal requires far less procedural protection than a disciplinary one — no hearing is constitutionally required. Regents of the University of Michigan v. Ewing (1985) added that a court will not override a genuine academic judgment unless it is such a substantial departure from accepted academic norms as to show the decision-maker did not actually exercise professional judgment.
That is a demanding standard, and it is why the characterization fight matters so much. The most consequential early question in many cases is whether the matter is truly academic or is a disciplinary case wearing academic clothing. A finding that a student behaved dishonestly or unprofessionally is disciplinary in substance even when it is processed by a promotion committee — and if it is disciplinary, the protections above should attach.
Step 1 · My school is private
Constitutional due process does not apply, because a private institution is not a state actor. That does not leave a student without rights — it changes where they come from. The handbook, catalog and code of conduct operate as a contract, and the institution is generally required to substantially follow its own published procedures.
In Florida the leading authorities include Sharick v. Southeastern University of the Health Sciences on damages for a wrongful dismissal, and a line of cases treating the student handbook as the governing instrument. Fla. Stat. § 1006.60 does not reach private institutions, which is why a private-school student may find that an attorney is excluded from a proceeding where a public-school student would have a participating advocate.
Two consequences follow. First, the edition of the handbook in force on the date the school acted is decisive — not the one on the website today. Second, some private institutions include binding arbitration clauses in their enrollment agreements, which changes where any dispute can be heard at all.
Step 2 · Private school, and the decision is disciplinary
The question becomes whether the institution followed its own published procedure, and whether it acted in good faith. Courts are generally reluctant to second-guess the outcome but will look at whether the process promised was the process given. An immaterial departure from a handbook usually does not win on its own; a departure from a core protection the handbook expressly promised is a different matter.
Read the handbook clause by clause against what actually happened, and note every gap in writing while the facts are fresh.
Step 2 · Private school, and the decision is academic
This is the most deferential combination of the four. The claim is contractual, and the standard applied to academic judgment is usually whether the institution acted arbitrarily, capriciously or in bad faith. Success generally depends on identifying a specific procedural promise the school made and did not keep, a factual error in the record, or evidence that the stated academic reason was not the real one.
It is also where the practical remedies — a negotiated withdrawal instead of a dismissal, a corrected transcript notation, a readmission pathway — often matter more than the legal theory.
Why the academic-versus-disciplinary line is worth fighting over
At a public institution in Florida, the difference between the two boxes is the difference between a proceeding where your lawyer may question witnesses and one where your lawyer may not speak. Professional programs in particular route professionalism concerns through academic promotion committees rather than the conduct code, and the protections do not follow.
That is not necessarily improper — genuine academic judgment belongs with faculty. But a matter that is really an allegation of dishonesty, or of misconduct, does not become an academic question because a committee with “promotion” in its name is hearing it. Establishing which track you are on, in writing, at the outset, is the single most useful early step in most cases.
What this tool cannot tell you
It cannot tell you your deadline, whether you have a claim, or what a court would do. Deadlines in particular vary enormously — we have documented published appeal windows ranging from three days to twenty-one across Florida programs alone, in at least four different units, sometimes running from the date on a letter rather than the date you received it. The preparation checklist sets out what to gather and what to ask, without guessing at a date.
Related reading
- Academic dismissal and suspension
- Suspension appeals
- Student conduct defense
- Which Title IX rule applies right now
Common questions
Is my community college public or private?
Florida’s state colleges and community colleges are public, so constitutional due process and Fla. Stat. § 1006.60 both apply. Proprietary career colleges are private even where they look similar.
My school calls it a professionalism matter. Is that academic or disciplinary?
It depends on substance rather than on the label. If the finding is that you behaved dishonestly or improperly, it is disciplinary in character even if a promotion committee is hearing it. That characterization is frequently contestable and is worth raising early and in writing.
Does Title IX change this analysis?
Yes. Title IX applies to any institution receiving federal financial assistance, public or private, and the 2020 regulations impose their own procedural requirements including a live hearing and advisor-led cross-examination. Those apply on top of whatever the boxes above provide.
Does it matter that my school is private if it takes federal aid?
For constitutional due process, no — receiving federal funds does not make a private university a state actor. For Title IX and Section 504, yes: those statutes attach to federal funding regardless of public or private status.