Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 protects pregnant and parenting students, serving as a key tool in the effort to ensure women have access to education. But until recently, many people were unfamiliar with Title IX outside of its effects on athletics and sexual harassment prevention. That will change this year.
The US Department of Education has just released new federal Title IX regulations that will affect millions of students. The new rules clarify that colleges are required to provide reasonable adjustments and leave as necessary to protect a student’s health and educational opportunities during pregnancy and postpartum. Educational institutions will be required to take proactive steps to inform students of these rights and to respond when students feel their rights have been violated.
The regulations mark the first time parenting students are defined in federal rulemaking. And they bring the 37 words that make up the law to life, guiding educational institutions and students alike.
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
The protections enshrined in the new regulations are critical for female-bodied students to be able to pursue education and are all the more urgent as their reproductive choices are increasingly constrained. The Urban Institute’s close partner the Pregnant Scholar has published guidance that can help college administrators, faculty, and students navigate the new regulations.
Who do new Title IX rules protect?
Millions of students are pregnant, postpartum, or parenting. Existing data estimate (PDF) more than 37,000 mothers younger than 18 gave birth in 2021. This is a lowball estimate of the pregnant and postpartum school-age population, as many pregnancies do not come to term and 18- or 19-year-old students might still be in high school.
Using the 2020 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, we developed lower-bound estimates of pregnant and postpartum college students. We estimate more than 107,000 female undergraduate students and more than 35,000 female graduate students who were enrolled in summer or fall 2019 had an infant in spring 2020.
This totals to more than 180,000 pregnant students from elementary to graduate school per academic semester who continued their pregnancies to term and, among college students, stayed enrolled. This adds to the approximately 3.1 million undergraduate and 1 million graduate students with dependent children estimated in the 2020 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
The data on college and graduate students are an undercount because students who leave their education program while they are pregnant—perhaps in part because of lack of accommodations and supports—may not be captured in the spring survey. None of these estimates include students whose pregnancies did not come to term or, for college and graduate students, did not claim their babies as dependent children following birth. And the 2020 numbers for college and graduate students are about 38 percent lower than the same survey data from the previous round, four years earlier, perhaps because the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns interrupted the 2020 round of survey administration, which may have disproportionately affected pregnant and parenting students. In addition, it is likely the number of pregnant students will increase in the future as states restrict reproductive choice.
How could these rules make a difference in the life of a student?
We come to this work with not only data and policy expertise but also lived expertise.
Kimberly Salazar, one of these authors, was a first-time college student who became a first-time mother in the middle of finals season. Kimberly was unaware of the protections and accommodations afforded to student parents under Title IX. She trudged through finals week only a few days postpartum and attended three in-person finals, bringing a pillow to sit on as she grappled with postpartum pain, soreness, and exhaustion. Bearing the weight of both postpartum and test anxiety led to the development of an anxiety disorder in which she was pulling out her hair. The lack of awareness around her right to accommodations to help ease her burden during such a crucial time left her feeling unsupported, isolated, and robbed of the chance to fully embrace both the joys of new motherhood and celebration of the culmination of a semester.
After Kimberly transferred to a flagship state university, the landscape shifted dramatically. Her new school had a student parent center that made pregnant and parenting students aware of their Title IX rights and openly discussed accommodations, support systems, and the resources available to student parents, including enhanced services reflected in the new Title IX regulations. The student-parent program director played a crucial role in emphasizing parents’ rights and ensuring student parents understood how best to leverage Title IX. Suddenly, navigating academia as a solo parent felt less daunting and more manageable for Kimberly.
What’s the bottom line?
The new Title IX rules will equip pregnant and parenting students with resources, accommodations, and support to navigate academia with confidence, helping millions avoid painful and humiliating academic experiences and more seamlessly continue their enrollment. They will help ensure students are aware of their rights and hold colleges to a higher standard so parents can meet their educational goals. As higher education institutions begin enacting the new regulations, resources from the Pregnant Scholar and other experts can help ensure implementation is smooth, effective, and ultimately supports student success.
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