WASHINGTON (AP) — At some of the nation's largest universities, the vast majority of sexual assaults take place not in dorm rooms or anywhere else on school property but in the neighborhoods beyond campus boundaries, according to data obtained by The Associated Press.

But the schools' obligation to investigate and respond to those off-campus attacks could be dramatically reduced by the Education Department's proposed overhaul of campus sexual assault rules. That's alarmed advocacy groups and school officials who say it would strip students of important protections in the areas where most of th...