The impact of the Supreme Court's 1984 Grove City College v. Bell decision on the interpretation of civil rights laws is discussed in this report. The Grove decision, it is argued, has made it possible for institutions to discriminate in programs which do not receive direct Federal aid. As a result, civil rights and affirmative action laws have become very difficult to enforce. First, the report outlines the following effects of the decision: (1) Federal audits or compliance reviews of institutions receiving tax dollars have been reduced or sharply limited; (2) civil rights agencies now investigate discrimination complaints only when Federal money is tied directly to the specific program or department of the institution in which the alleged discrimination took place; (3) compliance plans to end discrimination which were already in place before the Supreme Court ruling are now being revoked; (4) administration law judges are dismissing cases in which institutions refuse to voluntarily observe compliance plans to remedy violations that had been found before the Grove decision; and (5) Federal judges are throwing out private law suits where no Federal money is found in the program or activity where discrimination has been alleged. Next, the paper highlights court cases that involve four major civil rights laws that have been affected by the Grove decision. These laws are: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (affecting the disabled); Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (concerning racial discrimination); the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. (KH)