College students punished with expulsion for sexual assault are beginning to fight back in court, a trend that some believe is only going to grow.

According to the Huffington Post, Duke University expelled Lewis McLeod, a Dean's List senior, just before finals and he was not able to receive his diploma and start the Wall Street job he was offered. McLeod filed a lawsuit accusing the school of wrongful expulsion, an attempt to receive his diploma.

The Michigan Daily reported last month a University of Michigan student did the same thing following his expulsion for sexual assault. Drew Sterrett accused the school of violating his right to due process following a sexual misconduct complaint filed by a female friend who he was sexually involved with.

Drew University is in a similar situation, NJ.com reported Tuesday, as the school filed a legal document defending their actions taken against a student they investigated for sexual assault. However, Kevin Parisi was never charged with a crime. He was found not responsible, but Parisi filed a federal lawsuit accusing the school of ruining his academic career during the three-month probe.

"Here suddenly you're looking at the other side of the coin," John Banzhaf, an attorney and professor at George Washington University, told The Huffington Post. "It turns out that [the accused] too have remedies... I think this is catching a lot of attention, and I think you're going to see a lot more of this."

Such lawsuits are coming at a time when the federal government has turned its attention to sexual assault on college campuses. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say one in every five women in college experience sexual assault, but such attacks are vastly underreported.

While some might say it is possible for a student to make a false report, data simply does not indicate this happens often. The U.S. Education Department recently released its list of all 60 schools under federal investigation for underreporting or mishandling sexual assault complaints on their campus.

Schools are facing pressure to punish students found responsible of sexual assault more harshly, especially since they are a danger to victims if allowed to remain on the same campus. The problems schools face often come during the investigation process. No matter the outcome of the investigation, both sides are accusing the school of being unfair either way.

"If you have a process that does not treat both the accuser and the accused fairly, it's just wrong," S. Daniel Carter, director of the 32 National Campus Safety Initiative at the VTV Family Outreach Foundation, told the HP, "and it's not going to be politically viable amongst the community."

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