Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection by Higher Education Institutions in the U.S.: A State-by-State Legal Landscape Analysis

Gathering data on sexual orientation and gender identity can help educational institutions to better understand the experiences of their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students, faculty and staff and can serve to identify – and ultimately dismantle – the barriers faced by LGBTQ community members in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. However, in light of recent attacks on the safety and privacy of LGBTQ students by state governments and the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling against the consideration of race in college and university admissions, educational institutions require guidance on whether their state policy landscape is conducive to effectively and ethically collecting SOGI data. This report from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law for AAAS offers a roadmap for educational institutions aiming to undertake collection of SOGI data, offering location-based recommendations for whether and how they should collect SOGI data. The report was created in partnership with the Williams Institute with support from Tiger Global Impact Ventures.