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For Students & Postdocs

Learn how Title IX protects pregnant and parenting college students from discrimination and guarantees leave and accommodations.

For Faculty

Discover faculty obligations to comply with Title IX’s accommodation and leave requirements in your classroom or lab.

For Administrators

Use our resources and Model Policy as examples of how to satisfy Title IX rules and provide strong support for students at your college or university.

What We Do

The Pregnant Scholar Initiative is the nation’s first and only legal resource center for pregnant and parenting students. We aim to create an educational system where no student is asked to choose between their education and their family. The Pregnant Scholar’s team provides technical assistance to college and university administrators, faculty, and students, training on Title IX’s pregnancy-related protections, and assistance implementing best practice policies to support pregnant and parenting students. We share strategies that center student voice, destigmatize pregnancy and parenthood in academia, secure legal rights for students, and integrate family-responsive practices into the campus environment. Our work uses an intersectional framework, and it is guided and reinforced by our commitment to striving for gender, racial, and disability justice.

Learn more about the project here.

News and Updates

Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in education, prohibits discrimination related to pregnancy and marital status, including discrimination against college students and employees who are pregnant outside of marriage, divorced, or have had an abortion. The federal law also requires universities to ensure......

Texas just enacted several groundbreaking new laws to protect pregnant and parenting college students at public institutions of higher education! While the protections only cover some aspects of student’s education, we’re celebrating as Texas is now one of just a few states to explicitly protect......

The Pregnant Scholar is deeply troubled by the Department of Education’s recently announced delay in updating its Title IX rule. As the nation's legal resource center dedicated to protecting the rights of pregnant and parenting postsecondary students, we have seen the dire need for stronger legal protections firsthand. Initially proposed to be published in May 2023 and enforced by the 2023-24 school year, this delay until at least October...