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Colleges Must Accommodate Pregnant Students Under New Title IX
Inside Higher Ed
Johanna Alonso
August 27, 2024
Pregnancy was always implicitly protected by Title IX. But Biden’s new rules formalize the rights of pregnant and parenting students, making higher ed more accessible.
Lacy Guzman decided to go back to college when she was pregnant with her first child. She and her husband had both lost their jobs around the same time, and they wanted to set their family-to-be up for a more stable future.
By the time she started her associate program, her son, now 9, was 6 months old. Throughout her undergraduate and master’s programs, she had two more children.
Getting even simple accommodations during her pregnancies was frustrating, Guzman says. The semester that she was pregnant with her second child, she notified each of her professors early on that her due date was around finals week and asked if she could take exams early, just to be safe.
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Read MoreUniversities Hit Back Against Proposed Online Attendance Policy
Inside Higher Ed
Lauren Coffey
August 27, 2024
Proposed federal regulations have institutions and higher ed groups worried about time and financial burdens.
Hundreds of professors, colleges and higher ed organizations have expressed sharp criticism of the Department of Education’s proposed regulations for online courses, saying they stem from an antiquated mindset about new modalities—and place a time burden on professors and a financial burden on institutions.
Last month, the Department of Education asked for input on the proposed regulations; the comment period closed this past Friday. If the proposal is finalized before Nov. 1, it will be implemented by July 2026 at the earliest.
The attendance policy is one small portion of the new rule, which is part of a larger package of federal policies designed to protect students and hold institutions accountable for the financial aid dollars they receive.
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