A letter from Campus Pride on behalf of the signatories was sent to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) who has oversight of NCES. A separate request for comment was also filed with the DOE online in the public request for comments.
The organizations are recommending that NCES add a “nonbinary gender identity” category to all tables. As colleges are becoming more detailed in identifying the gender identities of their students, NCES should consider including additional gender options, such as agender, gender fluid, genderqueer, questioning, trans man, and trans woman. These would allow for a more comprehensive understanding of their students across gender identities.
The letter states: “While we appreciate that the NCES is proposing to add a single question to IPEDS that asks colleges about the number of students at their institutions who identify as other than female or male, this change is not enough. Nonbinary students need to be included in all gender breakdowns so that their experiences, which are often very different from female and male students, can be recognized and fully accounted for in order to ensure a safe, inclusive learning environment. The value of nonbinary inclusion should outweigh any added reporting burden on colleges.”
According to the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment (NCHA), the number of students identifying as trans or nonbinary has nearly tripled in the last five years, with most of this increase because of the growth in respondents identifying as nonbinary.
The Common Application, the Coalition Application, and the Universal College Application, which manage the admissions applications for more than 1,200 colleges and universities, enable students to identify their gender identity and include a “nonbinary” option. In addition, “nonbinary” is a category for “legal sex” in 24 states, where individuals can have an “x” as their gender marker on their driver’s license and/or birth certificates.
Signatories include:
ACPA - College Student Educators International
Advocates for Youth
American Association of Colleges and Universities
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
Association of College and University Housing Officers - International
Athlete Ally
Campus Pride
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR)
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Common App
Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Equality Federation
FORGE, Inc.
GLSEN
interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth
Mazzoni Center
Modern Military Association of America
Movement Advancement Project
NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators for Higher Education
National Association for College Admissions Counseling
National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO)
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Transgender Equality
National LGBT Cancer Network
National LGBTQ+ Bar Association
National Women’s Law Center
Oasis Legal Services
Oklahomans for Equality
PFLAG National
Phoenix Pride
PowerOn, a program of LGBT Technology Institute
Resource Center
TransAthlete.com
Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico
URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
Woodhull Freedom Foundation
