Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan
United States Supreme Court
458 U.S. 718 (1982)
Registered nurse Joe Hogan (plaintiff), who lacked a nursing degree but had over five years' experience as a nursing supervisor in the city where the Mississippi University for Women (MUW) (defendant) was located, was denied admission to MUW's nursing degree program solely because he was male, despite being otherwise qualified. Hogan sued, claiming the exclusion violated equal protection; the district court upheld MUW's policy as serving a legitimate state purpose, but the court of appeals reversed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a state statute may exclude males from enrolling in a state-sponsored professional nursing school without violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.