The Supreme Court, in the case of "Grove City College v. Bell," ruled that federal regulation and enforcement activities designed to eliminate discrimination based on sex are triggered by indirect federal aid and are program specific. The Court's program-specific conclusion was immediately applied to federal statutory language that limits discrimination against the handicapped. The proposed Civil Rights Act of 1984, introduced to mitigate the effect of the Court's program-specific interpretation in "Grove City," was not passed by the 98th Congress. The effects of the case on administrative enforcement--at least 22 sex discrimination cases under investigation by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights--indicate that the Education Department had previously interpreted the scope of its jurisdiction with regard to the investigation of discrimination more broadly than is currently permissible. It can be predicted that the present administration will continue to oppose broad-based institutional coverage for antidiscrimination provisions, that a new civil rights measure will be drafted, and that the Office of Civil Rights will proceed cautiously pending congressional clarification of intent and would reopen closed cases if the Supreme Court's program-specific conclusions were legislatively reversed. (MLF)