Common App Analysis Shows Fewer Students Identified as Nonbinary This Year
Credit: kyotokushige / Getty Images- During the 2023-2024 application cycle, 1.88% of students identified as nonbinary compared to 2.2% the previous cycle.
- This could be due to the national backlash toward nonbinary and transgender individuals, according to an expert.
- As states across the country introduce restrictive laws, nonbinary students may become more selective in where they attend college.
New analysis of Common App data from the 2023-2024 application cycle shows that the number of college applicants who self-identified as nonbinary dropped compared to the previous cycle.
Research by Dr. Genny Beemyn, director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Stonewall Center and coordinator of Campus Pride’s Trans Policy Clearinghouse, shows that 2,339 fewer students identified as nonbinary in the 2023-2024 admission cycle.
According to Beemyn’s analysis, 1.88% of students — or 23,620 applicants — described themselves as nonbinary in the 2023-2024 cycle. This is down from 2.2% — or 25,959 applicants — for the 2022-2023 cycle. In the 2021-2022 cycle, 1.78% of applicants identified as nonbinary.
In the most recent application season, the Common App drew 1,425,083 distinct first-year applicants to its member schools, which was a 7% increase from 2022-2023.
In an interview with BestColleges, Beemyn speculates the decline in applicants self-identifying as nonbinary is due to the national backlash toward nonbinary and transgender students. They cited the growing public hostility against this demographic as a potential reason students are less willing to identify as nonbinary during the college application and admissions process.
According to Emma Steele, director of media and external affairs at Common App, Beemyn has provided this analysis of Common App data over the last three years to help the platform better understand student responses to sex, gender, and pronoun questions as they intersect with race, region, and first-generation status.
“Dr. Beemyn has brought exceptional insight in interpreting and understanding the complexities in students’ self-reporting in conjunction with the broader policy context. We’re grateful for their partnership,” Steele told BestColleges.
Why Students Might Feel Less Comfortable Coming Out in College Applications
While the Common App analysis doesn’t point to one specific explanation, Beemyn said that the growing number of states that have done away with LGBTQ+ centers and shown less support for LGBTQ+ students could contribute to this culture of apprehension.
“If I’m applying to a college in one of those states, I’m sure as heck not going to come out on my admission because I would be very concerned that they’re going to discriminate against me,” Beemyn told BestColleges.
This contrasts with another study showing a growing trend of students identifying themselves as nonbinary.
The American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment showed that the percent of nonbinary-identifying students grew from 2.5% in 2020 to 5.1% in 2022, and to 5.5% in 2023. There was no increase in nonbinary-identifying students in 2024, according to the assessment.
Of note, Beemyn also saw an increase in this cycle in the number of what they call “clearly hostile responses” to the Common App’s question on gender — such as students listing their gender as an inanimate object.
In the 2021-2022 cycle, seven responses fell into this category. In 2022-2023, Beemyn categorized 13 responses as hostile. And in 2023-2024, there were 25 clearly hostile responses.
Beemyn said the nature of the audiences and how the two forms are filled out can be behind why there is a different percentage of students identifying as nonbinary.
The Common App is typically filled out by younger students (17- to 18-year-olds) who may be earlier on in their gender discovery journey. And the applications are often completed with the aid of parents/guardians who may or may not be aware or supportive of their child’s gender journey, Beemyn said.
The National College Health Assessment is submitted voluntarily by college students.
While Beemyn said they found that more nonbinary-identifying students filling out the Common App came from states that protect access to gender-affirming care for young people, this has more to do with the high populations in those states. They said this was not a good barometer as more people from big states are applying to college.
“Our primary goal behind our gender identity changes on the Common App was to better reflect the more than 1.4 million students who use the Common App each year and to ensure that the application process will not deter LGBTQ+ students,” said Steele, referencing the questions on gender and pronouns Common App added in the 2020-2021 admissions cycle.
“While we cannot specifically point to why the trends look the way they do, we’ll continue to use our data insights to better understand these students’ identities and needs as they apply to and enroll in college,” she said.
How Colleges Can Support Nonbinary and Transgender Students
Beemyn said that colleges can work to create safe and welcoming campuses for nonbinary and transgender students by creating resources and policies that support them. Faculty and staff can work to create an environment that is conducive to and supportive of sharing pronouns and using a person’s stated pronouns.
Beemyn encourages colleges to reevaluate spaces and policies that were built within the gender binary including:
- Sports teams
- Classroom practices
- Housing policies
- Names on school records
- Gender-inclusive bathrooms
Beemyn said there needs to be more surveys to determine and distinguish the pattern of nonbinary students applying and enrolling to college, but they think we “are going to see more and more students identifying as nonbinary” on college campuses.
However, when it comes to self-identifying in official documents like applications, they said that in the long run, it will depend on national politics. Who identifies in admissions forms does not necessarily reflect if students are out on campus.
“It’s going to depend a lot on the political climate in the future, and who wins in November,” they said.
Beemyn said that at UMass Amherst, they have seen more students enrolling because they are escaping a hostile state. They expect to see “an exodus of gender refugees” — students who can afford to move and are able to attend schools in more liberal states.
Beemyn expects to see more students being “careful” about disclosing their gender identity and being selective about the colleges they apply to and states where they attend college.
But, while campuses may be supportive of LGBTQ+ students, students could be wary about attending school in a state hostile to their gender identity — especially when it comes to accessing healthcare.
“You don’t live your entire life on campus,” Beemyn said.