Barnard College Will Consider Transgender Students for Admission

The board of trustees of Barnard College in New York City has announced that it will now consider applications from transgender students. Many of the nation’s leading women’s colleges, including Wellesley, Smith, and Mount Holyoke, have previously announced that they will consider transgender students.

A statement released by Jolyne Caruso-FitzGerald, chair of the board of trustees, and Debora Spar, president of Barnard College, said that “in furtherance of our mission, tradition and values as a women’s college, and in recognition of our changing world and evolving understanding of gender identity, Barnard will consider for admission those applicants who consistently live and identify as women, regardless of the gender assigned to them at birth.”

The new policy states that students who transition while at Barnard will be permitted to remain enrolled.

The new policy will be in effect for students seeking admission to the Class of 2020 that will enter Barnard in the fall of 2016.