Dec. 12, 2012: In this file photo students walk past the Campanile on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa.
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa has become the nation's first public university to include optional questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on its admissions application.
The university announced Wednesday that its new application asks students whether they identify with the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer community. The application also offers transgender as a gender option.
Campus Pride is an advocacy group that works to improve the college environment for gay and lesbian students. It says Iowa's move is the first by a "major, public, and national research university."
Elmhurst College became the first U.S. college to include similar questions on its application last year. Elmhurst is a private college in Illinois.
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