Education Department opens probe into Smith College for admitting trans women
The U.S. Department of Education on Monday opened an investigation into Smith College, an all-women’s college in Massachusetts, for admitting transgender women.
The investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights will examine whether the university violated Title IX, a 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in education.
The move is the latest by the Trump administration — whose rhetoric has often included attacks on trans people — to limit transgender rights in the United States. The administration has said Title IX prevents trans women from participating in women’s sports, suing several states and launching investigations into schools for not complying.
Smith College, a private liberal arts school founded in 1871, has admitted trans women since 2015, along with many other elite women’s colleges.
The school’s admissions policies attracted attention and sparked activism on campus in 2013, when a trans high school student was denied admission because her gender identity did not match that on her financial aid forms.
Its website now states that “all candidates who identify as women; cis, trans and non-binary women” can apply to the school. Advocates have supported this change over the years, saying women’s colleges were founded to educate people marginalized because of their gender.
The number of women’s colleges in the United States has fallen from more than 200 to just 30 by fall 2023, according to the Women’s College Coalition.
A college spokesperson did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
According to the Department of Education in a press release, Title IX contains an exception that allows colleges to be all-male or all-female, but it only applies “on the basis of biological difference between the sexes, not subjective gender identity.”
The investigation into Smith College stems from a complaint filed with the Office of Civil Rights in June 2025 by the conservative legal group Defending Education.
“DE and its members oppose, among other things, gender discrimination in America’s elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education,” the organization said in a press release.
Under the Biden administration, new Title IX regulations were issued to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. However, these were overturned by a federal judge in January 2025, who ruled that the rules had legal loopholes.
