Stephens College in Columbia, Mo. made the announcement in a recent email to students. The college had been discussing the policy change since 2014, according to KOMU-TV.
The new policy will take effect beginning in fall 2019 and arrives not long after the Trump administration's proposed changes to Title IX, which would not legally define "gender," thus limiting one's gender identity to that of the sex assigned to them at birth: male or female. It is unclear what impact the proposed Title IX change, if implemented, could have on the new Stephens College policy.
The U.S. Education Department and Stephens College did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
"Admission and continued enrollment in Stephens College's undergraduate residential program will be restricted exclusively to women, including students who are legally identified as female and who self-identify as women; students who document an ongoing transition to female and who self-identify as women; and students who are legally identified as female but do not fit within the gender binary," the Stephens College email read.
Transgender and non-binary students who apply "will be required to prove that they identify and live as women through legal documentation," according to an explainer released by the college.
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