Committee adopts amendment to guarantee priority registration for pregnant and parenting students; SF 4738 laid over

A Senate committee adopted an author's amendment to tighten protections for pregnant and parenting students at Minnesota public colleges and universities and laid Senate File 4738 over for later consideration.

The bill would convert an existing statutory protection into a guaranteed right: once a student self-identifies as pregnant or parenting in the institution portal, the school must automatically place the student into a priority registration window and proactively notify them of the right, supporters said.

"This should automatically happen because... they answered 'yes,'" Shawn Anderson of Minnesota State told senators, describing the verification as a self-disclosure question in the student portal. Student witnesses said proactive notification matters because the right often exists "on paper" but not in practice. "Theres any immediate sense of relief you can see," a Metro State student said describing the difference priority registration made.

Senators asked how the system prevents misuse and whether the bill covers graduate students; witnesses said the bill currently focuses on undergraduate protections and verification would be by self-disclosure followed by one-to-one outreach from campus student-parent centers.

The committee adopted the amendment and laid SF 4738 over.