BOSTON — Welcome to Harvard. Feel free to pick a gender pronoun on this form: He. She. Ze. E. They.

During the registration process at Harvard University, students are now allowed to indicate which pronouns they use, with suggested gender-neutral options like “ze” or “they.”

Harvard isn’t the first college to embrace gender-neutral pronouns, but it’s among a wave of major institutions that are widening their policies and pronouns to acknowledge transgender students, as well as “genderqueer” students, who don’t identify as male or female.

“If someone is being alienated or potentially outed by inappropriate gender references, we think that’s not appropriate,” said Michael Burke, registrar of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

American University posted a guide on its website explaining how to use pronouns like “ey,” and how to ask someone which pronouns they use.

Last week, the State University of New York, one of the nation’s largest public college systems, announced it’s working on a data-collection tool to let students choose among seven gender identities, including “trans man,” “questioning” and “genderqueer.”

Advocates for transgender students applaud the changes.

“It feels really invalidating to have people make an assumption about what your gender is simply by looking at you,” said Genny Beemyn, director of the Stonewall Center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.