Trump Administration Launches Title IX Investigation into Smith College Over Transgender Admissions Policy

The Department of Education under President Donald Trump has launched a Title IX investigation into Smith College, a historically women’s college, for its policy of admitting transgender women.

The Office of Civil Rights announced the probe on Monday, claiming the college violated Title IX—the 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination—by allowing "biological males into women’s intimate spaces." The DOE argued that Smith College’s admissions policy conflicts with Title IX’s single-sex exception, which permits colleges to enroll all-male or all-female student bodies based on biological sex, not gender identity.

In a statement, the DOE said:

"Title IX contains a single-sex exception that allows colleges to enroll all-male or all-female student bodies—but the exception applies on the basis of biological sex difference, not subjective gender identity. An all-girls college that enrolls male students professing a female identity would cease to qualify as single sex under Title IX."

Smith College, founded as a single-sex institution, has accepted transgender women since 2015. Its admissions policy includes "any applicants who self-identify as women; cis, trans, and nonbinary women." Many other historically women’s colleges (HWCs) follow similar policies.

The DOE’s concerns about "intimate spaces" appear unfounded, as Smith College provides single-occupancy, all-gender restrooms and an all-gender locker room with private changing and showering areas.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ+ Rights, criticized the investigation as government overreach.

"If [women’s colleges] have chosen—as many of them have—to admit transgender students, that’s something they should be able to do freely without being worried about persecution by the federal government. This administration seems hellbent on eliminating any inclusion of transgender people anywhere in our society."