State Profiles
Access the SIECUS State Education Profiles: A living document of real-time updates on U.S. state policies for sex education. Our color-coded, state-by-state analysis evaluates existing laws and legislative activities, providing a detailed view of regional educational policies. These profiles serve as a crucial tool for advancing informed, comprehensive sex education, reflecting our ongoing commitment to shape policy that supports equitable and effective teaching standards.
State Profile Highlights
- 30 states and the District of Columbia require sex education, either explicitly by law or by proxy via enforced state standards.
- 39 states and the District of Columbia specifically require instruction on HIV/AIDS in schools.
- 35 states require schools to emphasize the importance of abstinence when sex education or HIV/STI instruction is provided.
- 17 states provide abstinence-only sex education
- 21 states require instruction on condoms or contraception when sex education or HIV/STI instruction is provided.
- 12 states do not require sex education or HIV/STI instruction to be any of the following, by law: age-appropriate, medically accurate, culturally responsive, or evidence-based/evidence-informed.
- 12 states require sex education or HIV/STI instruction to include information on consent.
- 10 states have policies that include affirming sexual orientation instruction on LGBTQ identities or discussion of sexual health for LGBTQ youth.
- 4 states explicitly require instruction that discriminates against LGBTQ people
- 5 states have laws requiring comprehensive sex education (CSE). Of these:
- 3 states (CA, OR, WA) require comprehensive sex education to be taught in all schools
- 2 states (CO and IL) require sex education curriculum to be comprehensive, IF it is taught in schools.
The provided highlights are not a comprehensive view of how sex education is implemented in each state; rather, it only represents the policies and laws in place that influence the kind of sex education that might exist in your local jurisdiction. . As a result, these highlights do not reflect the realities of how sex education looks like in classrooms across the United States due to the intricacies of local control at the school district and individual school level. For more detailed inquiries regarding these statistics, please contact Alison Macklin, Director of Policy and Advocacy, amacklin@siecus.org
For a detailed look at sex ed policies that impact you based on where you live, click on your state in the map above.
About the SIECUS State Profiles
The SIECUS State Profiles provides an in-depth and up-to-date look at the state of sex education in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the outer United States territories and associated states, pursuant to data available.
The profiles include an overview of each state’s current sex education laws, policies, and guidelines, newly introduced legislation, and relevant action that advocates have taken to advance or defend sex education in their communities. This report also incorporates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s School Health Profiles data to help paint a comprehensive picture of what sexual health education topics are, or are not, being taught to young people in the classroom.
The SIECUS State Profiles serves as an evolving guide and will be regularly updated as new legislation and related activity becomes available.
This resource is intended to be used by advocates, educators, policymakers, health care providers, parents, and youth to aid in efforts to advance sex education in every community across the country. To request older editions of the SIECUS State Profiles (2003 – 2015), please email info@siecus.org.
Other State Profile Editions (Archive)
Review the 2022 Sex Ed State Profiles
Review the 2021 Sex Ed State Profiles
Review the 2020 Sex Ed State Profiles
Older Archives (2016-2018)