Colleges and Universities with LGBTQ Identity Questions as an Option on Admission Applications & Enrollment Forms

In 2013, Campus Pride issued, in partnership with ACPA-College Student Educators International, a position paper titled “An Institutional Responsibility: Tracking Retention & Academic Success of Out LGBT Students.”  The statement posits: “In order to best serve the needs of out LGBT college students, it is imperative that colleges and universities give these students the option to self-identify at the point of college admission or other enrollment activity. This way the campus can take responsibility for the LGBT student experience, their academic retention, safety, and success from the beginning like we do other campus populations.”

Undergraduate Applications

Allegheny College: asks admitted students to complete a survey that sexual orientation (choices [can choose more than one]: bisexual, gay, heterosexual/straight, asexual, lesbian, queer, pansexual, questioning, prefer not to disclose, and another identity [fill in the blank]) and their gender identity (choices: woman, man, trans, non-binary, prefer not to disclose, and another identity [fill in the blank]).

Augsburg University: asks optional questions “Preferred Gender Identity” (choices: agender, androgyne, bigender, demigender, genderqueer or gender fluid, intersex, man, multigender, other gender identity, prefer not to disclose, questioning or unsure, trans man, trans woman, two spirit, woman) and “Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?” (choices: asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, other sexual orientation, pansexual, prefer not to disclose, queer, questioning or unsure, same-gender loving, straight [heterosexual]).

Bridgewater State University: offers undergraduate and graduate students the option to fill out an enrollment form where they can identify their sexual orientation (choices: asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning or unsure, same-gender loving, an identity not listed: please specify, and prefer not to disclose) and their gender identity (choices: agender, genderqueer or gender fluid, questioning or unsure, trans man, trans woman, a gender category not list: please specify, and prefer not to disclose).

California two-year colleges: ask students to “please indicate your sexual orientation,” and gives the choices of straight/heterosexual, gay or lesbian/homosexual, bisexual, other, and decline to state. It also asks an optional question, “Do you consider yourself transgender?”

California State University system: asks optional questions “Do you identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT)?” and “What is your gender identity?” (choices: female, female to male transgender, intersex, male, male to female transgender, not sure, other, decline to state).

Connecticut College: has an optional question, “If you identify as Trans*, Queer, Cis, or another gender, please indicate that here.”

Dartmouth College: lists “gender identity” and “LGBT community” among 22 “personal interests” that students can choose from on the supplement to their Common Application.

Duke University: has an optional essay question on its supplemental application: “If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had to help us understand you better—perhaps related to a community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural background—we encourage you to do so.”

Elmhurst College: asks optional questions on its admissions form on gender identity (choices: agender, androgyne, demigender, genderqueer, man, questioning, trans woman, trans man, woman, and an identity not listed) and sexual orientation (choices: asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning or unsure, same-gender loving, straight [heterosexual] and an identity not listed). Students can choose multiple options.

Elon University: asks an optional question, “Do you consider yourself part of the LGBTQIA community?”

Kansas State: has an optional question, “If you would like to self-identify your gender identity or gender expression, you may provide it below.”

MIT: asks an optional question, “How would you describe your sexual orientation/gender identity? (Check all that apply)” and gives the choices of lesbian, gay, straight/heterosexual, unsure, bisexual, transgender, another identity (with a fill in the blank), and prefer not to answer.

Montclair State University: has optional question that asks “gender identity” (choices: man, woman, transgender, another gender, prefer not to answer)

Northeastern Illinois University: asks an optional question, “Do you identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning (GLBTQ)?”

Ohio State University: asks an optional question, “Do you identify as a part of the LGBTQ community?”

Purdue University: sends admitted undergraduate students a survey where they have the option of identifying their sexual identity (choices [can choose more than one]: asexual, bisexual, gay, straight/heterosexual, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning, same-gender loving, two spirit, prefer not to disclose, and not listed [fill in the blank]) and their gender identity (choices: woman, man, FTM/transgender man/trans man, MTF/transgender woman/trans woman, gender queer [identifying as neither man or woman], prefer not to disclose, and not listed [fill in the blank]).

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD): has admitted students complete a “Cultural Community Survey” that asks “sex” (choices: male, female, intersex, and self-identify), “gender” (male, female, transgender, and self-identify), and “sexual orientation” (gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, and self-identify).

State University of New York (SUNY) system: allows students to identify their gender identity (choices: man, woman, trans man, trans woman, genderqueer/gender-fluid, questioning, and unsure or write in) and sexual orientation (choices: straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer, and questioning, and unsure or write in) on admissions forms for all SUNY schools.

University of California system: asks gender identity and sexual orientation on the admissions application for all UC schools: “How do you describe yourself? (mark one answer): Male, Female, Trans Male/Trans Man, Trans Female/Trans Woman, Genderqueer/Gender Non-Conforming, Different Identity” and “Do you consider yourself to be (mark one answer): Heterosexual or straight, Gay or lesbian, Bisexual, Not listed above (please specify) __________.” University of California students do not need to provide any sex/gender on their admissions applications, as explained here.

University of Delaware: asks an optional admissions form question on gender identity (choices: agender, androgyne, demigender, genderqueer or gender fluid, man, questioning or unsure, trans man, trans woman, woman, prefer not to disclose, identity not listed). Also asks gender identity and sexual orientation on a post-enrollment form (sexual orientation choices: asexual, bisexual, gay, heterosexual/straight, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning or unsure, same-gender loving, prefer not to disclose, identity not listed). Students can select all that apply.

University of Iowa: asks an optional question, “Do you identify with the LGBTQ community?” Students can also identify their gender as male, female, or transgender.

University of Kentucky: students are able to designate “gender” by checking male, female, or writing in a response; there is also an optional essay that provides a space for a student to disclose/discuss “gender identity, sexual orientation, and cultural background.”

University of Maryland: sends admitted undergraduate students a survey where they have the option of identifying their sexual identity (choices: heterosexual or straight, gay or lesbian, bisexual, and prefer not to answer) and can indicate whether or not they are transgender.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst: asks optional questions on its admissions form on gender identity (choices: agender, androgyne, demigender, genderqueer, man, questioning, trans woman, trans man, and woman) and sexual orientation (choices: asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning or unsure, same-gender loving, and straight [heterosexual]). Students can choose all that apply

University of Pennsylvania: has an optional field asking if students have an LGBTQIA identity and offers them the opportunity to specify that identity.

University of Wisconsin system: has an optional question on gender identity (choices: woman, man, trans or transgender, a gender identity not listed here, prefer not to answer).

Warren Wilson College: asks “gender identity: ___________” on its admissions form.

Washington two-year colleges: ask an optional question about sexual orientation, and gives students the opportunity to identify their gender as feminine, masculine, transgender, androgynous, gender neutral, other, and prefer not to answer.

Graduate School Applications

Augsburg University: same questions as for undergraduates.

Babson College’s Graduate School of Business: fill in the blank for gender identity and a question: “Do you identify as a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning community?”

Oregon State: asks students for their gender identity, and has an optional question on whether they identify as LGBQ.

Penn’s Law School: offers an optional question, “Do you identify as a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person?”

University of California, Santa Cruz: asks an optional question, “What is your sexual orientation?,” and gives the choices of bisexual, gay, heterosexual/straight, lesbian, and queer.

University of Kentucky: same options as for undergraduates.

University of Maryland School of Business: lists “LGBT” among a range of “affiliations” that students have the option of marking.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst: same questions as for undergraduates.

Meet the Clearinghouse Coordinator

Genny Beemyn, Ph.D., is the director of the UMass Amherst Stonewall Center, the campus LGBTQIA+ center. They have published and spoken extensively on the experiences and needs of trans college students, including writing some of the first articles on the topic in the 2000s. Among the books Genny has written are The Lives of Transgender People (2011); A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington, D.C. (2014); and the anthology Trans People in Higher Education (2019). With Abbie Goldberg, they edited The Encyclopedia of Trans Studies (2021). They are currently writing Campus Queer: Addressing the Needs of LGBTQ+ College Students with Mickey Eliason for Johns Hopkins University Press. In addition to being the coordinator of the Clearinghouse, Genny is an editorial board member of the Journal of LGBT Youth, the Journal of Bisexuality, the Journal of Lesbian Studies, and the Journal of Homosexuality. They have a Ph.D. in African American Studies and master’s degrees in African American Studies, American Studies, and Higher Education Administration. More about Genny can be found on their website: www.gennyb.com.