The Common Application, which provides a standard college application for more than 400 institutions including Stanford and the University of San Francisco, is considering adding optional questions regarding sexual and gender identity, reports Inside Higher Education.

If the questions are added to the application, other applications will likely add similar content. Some colleges already include LGBT-geared questions.

Duke University gives students a space to fill in their gender on applications, according to the Transgender Law and Policy Institute, a nonprofit transgender advocacy group. And Tufts University and the University of Oregon do the same on housing forms, while Oberlin College and the University of Hawaii allow students to check "transgender" when they apply for dorms.

Unlike questions about race, which are generally used for affirmative-action purposes, the new questions will factor more into recruitment than admissions.

Reaching out to LGBT students is a growing trend, Inside Higher Education reports. This past spring, the University of Pennsylvania began connecting applicants who expressed interest in LGBT issues with current students involved in related issues. Campus Pride, a nonprofit that works to make college campuses safer for LGBT students, holds an LGBT-friendly college fair each year.

If the Common Application adds gender and sexual identity questions, it will still also require a student's sex as listed on his or her birth certificate, due to single-sex institutions' need to verify applicants' eligibility.