Apr 08, 2015 12:46 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The U.S. Education Department has confirmed it is now investigating 106 schools for 113 Title IX complaints relating to sexual misconduct allegations.

According to the Huffington Post, the ED first started publicly disclosing the schools its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) was investigating for alleged Title IX and Clery Act violation nearly a year ago. At the time, their list had 55 institutions on it.

As of March, the ED opened new investigations at two University of California schools: Davis and Santa Cruz (the system's third and fourth), the University of Denver (the school's second), Saint Mary's College of Maryland (the school's fourth) and Buffalo State College, which was the fourth in the State University of New York system.

Arguably the most high profile case the ED and OCR have handled of late has been at the University of Virginia (UVA), though the investigation was already open when Rolling Stone published its now-retracted "A Rape on Campus" article. A spokesperson at UVA told the HP the OCR's "review remains ongoing."

Though a female's horrific account of a gang rape at a 2012 fraternity party in the Rolling Stone article was ultimately discredited, the ED is obligated to look into every allegation of sexual misconduct in a Title IX review. As the Charlottesville Police determined, something may have happened, but there was no evidence to support the woman's story.

It is unclear how much of the investigation was devoted to those allegations in particular, but UVA did recently release a new policy to curb sexual misconduct and assault on campus. Such policy changes have heralded the end of the OCR's probe in past cases, the HP noted.

The ED's public disclosure of Title IX and Clery Act investigations is meant to hold school's accountable for properly handling complaints of sexual misconduct and assault. Mishandling such complaints is a federal violation, as the Title IX law forbids gender-based discrimination.

See Now: Covert Team Inside Newsweek Revealed as Key Players in False Human Trafficking Lawsuit