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Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. This law is crucial in ensuring equal opportunity in education, regardless of sex and gender. Title IX protects people of all sexes and genders from discrimination, not just women.
Title IX makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex, which includes on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, miscarriage, abortion, or related medical conditions, including recovery therefrom. Title IX also prohibits harassment, intimidation and retaliation on the basis of sex and pregnancy related conditions. The law provides protection that goes beyond just the classroom; it applies to school sponsored extracurriculars activities, internships, athletics, financial aid, scholarships, career counseling, and lab and clinical work.
Students must be provided access to reasonable modifications for pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, abortion, lactation, and recovery. Title IX requires that students have excused absences due to pregnancy or childbirth as long as their medical provider deems necessary and when they return, they must be restored to the same status as prior to their absence. Pregnant students must also be provided with the same services and support as it would provide other students with temporary disabilities.
Minnesota Statute §135A.1582 went into effect on August 1, 2024 and was further amended in the 2025 Special Legislative Session. This law has expanded the rights and protections for pregnant and parenting students in Minnesota. The law defines a parenting student as any student who is the parent or legal guardian of, or can claim as a dependent, a child under the age of 18.
This statute established the designation of parenting navigators for all campuses, required data collection to begin in 2026 on parenting status, state level protections for pregnant and parenting students that went into effect on July 1, 2024, and access to early course registration for pregnant and parenting students if offered to other groups of students.
Minnesota State Colleges and universities are required by Minn. Stat. §135A.1582 to designate at least one employee to serve as a navigator for current and incoming parenting students. Parenting navigators are required to provide information regarding support services and other campus resources including medical and behavioral health coverage and services; public benefit programs (e.g., food security, affordable housing, and housing subsidies); parenting and childcare resources; employment assistance; transportation assistance; and other appropriate campus resources.
Minn. Stat. §135A.1582 also expanded the state-based rights and protections for pregnant and parenting students. Minnesota state colleges and universities may not require pregnant or parenting students to take a leave of absence or withdrawal from program, limit their studies, participate in an alternate program, change their program/degree, or refrain from joining or participating in a course/program/activity solely based on their status as a pregnant or parenting student. Under the statute the university is required to provide reasonable modifications that would be provided to other students with temporary disabilities or are related to the health and safety of the student and their unborn child. The university must excuse a student’s absence, allow the makeup of missed assignments and assessments, allow to extensions, and provide access to instructional materials and recordings if provided to other students with excused absences and related to the student’s pregnancy, childbirth, or any related medical condition. Lastly, the statute requires that the university allow a pregnant or parenting student to take a leave of absence and if in good academic standing at the time of the leave, be returned to their same status at the conclusion of the leave.
1B.1 Policy outlines Minnesota state’s commitment to equal opportunity and nondiscrimination by prohibiting discrimination and discriminatory harassment on the basis of a protected class or perceived protected class. This policy applies to all students, staff, faculty, and even third parties and visitors to our campus when conduct occurs on campus and off campus if in connection with a university affiliated activity. One of the protected classes covered under the 1B.1. Policy is sex, which includes pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. Additionally, the 1B.1 Policy prohibits discrimination and harassment based on familial status and marital status.
The 1B.1 policy defines discrimination as “Employment decisions, educational decisions, or treatment of an individual because of protected class status or perceived protected class status that subjects the individual to different treatment so as to interfere with or limit the ability of the individual to participate in, or benefit from, the services, activities, or privileges provided by Minnesota State or otherwise adversely affects the individual's employment or education.”
The 1B.1 Policy defines discriminatory harassment as “Unwelcome conduct or communication that is based on actual or perceived membership in a protected class, including stereotypes of protected classes, that has a negative effect or is likely to have a negative effect on the complainant or the workplace or educational environment.” Discriminatory harassment includes, but is not limited to:
Oral or written conduct such as jokes, innuendo, slurs, name-calling, negative comments about cultural norms, circulating rumors;
Physical contact, battery, blocking movement;
Non-verbal derogatory gestures, stalking, interference with work performance;
Visual displays, including but not limited to, posters, drawings, screen savers, emails and texts with derogatory meaning, epithets written on complainant’s personal property or other symbols associated with particular protected classes.
If you feel you have experienced protected class-based discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, you can submit a complaint here or submit this form to OEI@metrostate.edu.
Metro State is committed to ensuring its campus programs, services, and activities are available to students who may be pregnant, experiencing a pregnancy-related condition, or parenting a child under the age of 18. Students experiencing the aforementioned may need modifications or adjustments.
1B.1.3 defines a student as having a familial status when they have custody, or is the designated parent, guardian or caregiver of one or more children under the age of 18. The protections also apply to anyone who is pregnant or in the process of obtaining legal custody. Marital status refers to a student's relationship status (single, married, separated, etc.) A parenting student is defined as a student who is the parent or legal guardian of or can claim as a dependent on a child under the age of 18. Pregnancy and related conditions are defined as the full spectrum of processes and events connected with pregnancy, including pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation; related medical conditions; and recovery therefrom.