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Pregnant students deserve to know their Title IX rights and have access to the support they need to thrive in school. This resource provides clarity around schools’ obligations and the best practices to ensure pregnant students are aware of their rights while maintaining their right to privacy. Appropriate implementation is crucial: there are more than 180,000 pregnant students in the United States each academic semester (from K12 to graduate school) who will continue their pregnancies to term, and privacy violations can have significant consequences.
In its 2024 Title IX Rule, the U.S. Department of Education included a notice requirement meant to help ensure that pregnant students are aware of their Title IX rights and the accommodations, supports, and resources that their schools offer. After the 2024 Rule was vacated in early 2025, it is the Title IX regulations, as amended by the Trump Administration in 2020, that set the minimum obligations for compliance.
The 2024 Title IX Rule required that school employees give students the Title IX coordinator’s contact information upon being informed of that student’s pregnancy, empowering the student to get more information while also giving them autonomy to decide when and whether to provide information about their private health condition. However, many misinterpretations arose.
To clarify: school employees are not required, under either the 2020 or 2024 Title IX Rules, to report a student’s pregnancy or related condition to the Title IX coordinator or any other school official. As a best practice, institutional employees should continue, upon learning of a student’s pregnancy, to notify the student that the Title IX coordinator can assist with their needs. This practice makes it easier both for students to get assistance and for schools to ensure legal compliance with their Title IX duties.
When school employees report pregnant students to campus officials, create lists of students who are pregnant or potentially pregnant, or reveal information to law enforcement, they expose students to privacy violations and even potential criminal liability. A Pregnancy Justice research study found that in the first year after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, at least 210 women were prosecuted for “crimes” related to pregnancy, abortion, pregnancy loss, or birth — the highest number of pregnancy-related prosecutions documented in a single year since researchers began tracking cases in 1973.
To respect students’ privacy and combat the risk of criminalization, it is imperative that schools do not keep lists of pregnant or potentially pregnant students, or report student pregnancies within or outside of their institutions. Following the best practices outlined in this fact sheet ensures that every student—including pregnant students—can learn in a supportive school environment.
