Wellesley College, one of the seven sisters, will now accept transgender women. Wellesley will become the third college to make this move.

The Boston Globe reported.

Wellesley College to accept transgender women

Wellesley College for the first time will admit transgender students who identify as women, the school announced to alumnae in a letter Thursday morning.

Under the new policy, the women’s liberal arts college west of Boston will consider for admission any applicant who “lives as a woman and consistently identifies as a woman.”

Applicants who identify as men are not eligible for admission. If a student, during her time at Wellesley, no longer identifies as a woman, that student will still be allowed to graduate, provided academic standards are met, the school said.

The policy is expected to be in place for the next admission cycle, for the class of 2020.

The new policy, approved Wednesday by the Board of Trustees, comes after President H. Kim Bottomly formed a committee last fall to study educational, social, legal and medical considerations about gender identity, according to the college.

“We’ve given this great thought and think that it’s part of our mission-driven thinking,” Bottomly said in a phone interview.

Wellesley becomes the third local women’s college — after Mount Holyoke and Simmons — to create a more inclusive admissions policy by admitting transgender students.