The Department of Education ordered Michigan State University on Thursday to pay a $4.5 million penalty for failing to protect students from rampant sexual abuse .

The crimes for which Larry Nassar and William Strampel have been convicted are disgusting and unimaginable. So too, is the universitys response to their crimes, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said on a Thursday morning call with reporters. This must not happen again. There or anywhere else.

The penalty, part of a resolution agreement signed by MSU, was announced after two Department of Education investigations concluded this week: the Clery Act investigation , which requires schools to monitor and disclose statistics about crime on campus, and the Office of Civil Rights investigation , which oversees Title IX , the federal civil rights law created to ensure gender equality in education.

The $4.5 million fine is the largest ever recorded of the Clery Act. For context, MSUs penalty is nearly double the amount of Penn States $2.4 million penalty following the 2011 investigation into sexual abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Students are our focus and we are committed to their safety on campus, said Mark Brown, Federal Student Aid chief operating officer. Our findings and the required corrective actions should serve as a reminder to all schools that we take seriously our commitment to vigorously enforce the Clery Act and protect all students. Any school that falls short will be held accountable.

Both investigations analyzed MSUs response to rampant sexual abuse perpetrated by Nassar, the universitys former sports medicine doctor, and Nassars former boss William Strampel . Last year, Strampel was charged with willful neglect of duty and accused of sexual misconduct himself.