File this story under public relations disasters.

Matt Rocheleau of Boston.com reports.

5 Mass. Colleges, Universities Under Federal Investigation for Possible Title IX Violations

Five higher education institutions in Massachusetts are under investigation by the federal education department for possibly violating the law around handling sexual violence and harassment complaints, officials disclosed today.

Amherst College, Boston University, Emerson College, Harvard University’s undergraduate college and its law school, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst are all being investigated for possible Title IX violations, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced.

The department for the first time today released a complete list of all of the higher education institutions under such investigation nationwide.

A total of 55 schools in the US are under investigation, the list shows.

Some of the investigations on the list — including at Amherst, Emerson and Harvard’s undergraduate college — were known publicly before today because the department had previously confirmed institutions that were being investigated for Title IX complaints if a request was made about a certain school.

The Education Department vowed to regularly update the list going forward.

“We are making this list available in an effort to bring more transparency to our enforcement work and to foster better public awareness of civil rights,” said a statement from assistant secretary for civil rights Catherine E. Lhamon.