Under the policy, a student who transitions from male to female would forfeit their eligibility to matriculate at Morehouse. It is not clear how many students might currently be in transition.

The president of the college, David A. Thomas, said the decision was driven by a greater awareness of gender identity. It has come a time that the college need to have a clear policy.

“We found that when our admission representatives were going out, oftentimes people would ask them, ‘Does Morehouse admit transgender people?’” he said on Sunday.

The new policy states that “once admitted, students are expected to continue to self-identify as men throughout their matriculation.”

Mr. Thomas, said he was “not aware as to whether currently we have a trans man on campus.”

“The policy was not driven by trans individuals who are on the campus,” Mr. Thomas said. “Our students were unclear if we were welcoming or open to transgender men applying. It wasn’t stirred by transgender men on campus.”

Founded in 1867, Morehouse has historically been an all-male institution. Rashad Raymond Moore, 29, who graduated from Morehouse in 2012, said keeping the college all male was at the crux of the school’s history.

“It is the only black institution in the United States that is dedicated to the intellectual and moral formation of black men and to allow trans women to enroll or matriculate or graduate from Morehouse would change the moral fiber of the institution completely,” he said on Sunday.

The pres feels that the new policy was a move in the right direction.