Excerpted from Newsweek Magazine (by Abigail Jones September 6, 2016)

Free Tampons and Pads are Making Their Way to U.S. Colleges, High Schools, and Middle Schools

When students at Brown University head to their first class or hit the gym for their first workout this week, they’ll find something new in many campus bathrooms: free tampons and pads.

“There’s been a lot of conversation about why pads and tampons are a necessity, not a luxury, but not a lot of action. We wanted to take it into our own hands,” says Nguyen, a senior studying education policy.

Students at Brown aren’t the only ones going back to school this month with unprecedented access to menstrual products.

As of this fall, New York City public school students will provide free tampons and pads in all school buildings with sixth through 12th graders.

Earlier this year, Inside Higher Ed reported that students at the University of Arizona, Columbia University, Emory College, Reed College, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, UCLA and Grinnell College, among others, have all advocated for free menstrual products on campus.