The University of Notre Dame, which has announced it will end birth control coverage for faculty and staff following the Trump administration's rollback of the contraceptive mandate in former President Barack Obama's health care law, says it has not yet made a decision on whether to continue birth control coverage for students.

The university became the first employer to eliminate coverage after the Trump administration released a new rule last month that makes it easier for employers to obtain an exemption from the Affordable Care Act's mandate requiring them to provide birth control with no copay. Officials sent an email to faculty and staff on Oct. 27 notifying them of the change. And though numerous media outlets have reported that contraceptive coverage for students will end in August, a university spokesman told U.S. News that future coverage decisions have not been finalized.

Dennis Brown, assistant vice president for university communications, confirmed in an email that student contraceptive coverage would continue for the rest of the plan year, which ends Aug, 14, 2018, but stated that "continuing coverage, plan provider and associated benefit offerings will be finalized next semester." Brown confirmed in a phone interview that student coverage beyond the current plan year is not finalized and may depend on the insurer.

The university, long a vocal critic of the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, is thought to be all but certain to eliminate the coverage for students. The school sued the Obama administration in 2012 and 2013 for the right to not offer coverage. Contraceptive coverage became available to Notre Dame faculty, staff and students under a compromise solution that allowed religious objectors the ability to opt out of paying for coverage. Under the compromise, the financial burden of contraceptive coverage for religious objectors is be shouldered by individual insurers and the federal government.

Contraceptive coverage for employees of the university will end on Dec. 31, according to the email sent to faculty and staff last week.

Students, who have contraceptive coverage under a different insurance plan, received a separate email the same day the faculty and staff email was sent. The student email alerted them of the change in the faculty plan and stated that student contraceptive coverage would continue for the rest of the plan year.

The email did not, however, make any definitive statements on the availability of contraceptive coverage after the current insurance cycle ends.

Currently, faculty and staff can receive contraceptive coverage through a Meritain Health/Optum RX plan. Students receive coverage through an Aetna plan that is separate from the general student health insurance plan and requires a different insurance card.

On Oct. 6, the Trump administration released its rule making it easier for employers to obtain an exemption from the requirement that they provide birth control with no copay. Notre Dame's president, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, released a statement the same day applauding the new rule on the grounds of religious liberty.

Students at Notre Dame staged a protest in response to Jenkins' statement, according to The Observer, Notre Dame's student newspaper. And following the school's announcement last Friday, the Graduate Worker's Collective at Notre Dame circulated an online petition asking the university to continue contraceptive coverage.