U.S. Education Department Investigates Smith College for Admitting Trans Women

The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it has opened an investigation into Smith College, an all-women's school in Massachusetts, over its admission of transgender women.

In a press release, the department stated that Smith has been "admitting biological men." The Office of Civil Rights probe will examine whether the college violated Title IX, the 1972 law that bars sex discrimination in education.

This action marks the latest step by the Trump administration, which has often criticized transgender people, to curb transgender rights in the United States. The administration has argued that Title IX bars trans women from women's sports, leading to lawsuits against several states and probes into schools that failed to comply.

Smith College, a private liberal arts institution founded in 1871, began admitting trans women in 2015, following the lead of many other elite women's colleges.

The school's policies first drew notice in 2013, when it rejected a transgender high school senior because her gender identity did not match the one listed on her financial aid forms. That incident sparked campus activism.

Smith's website now states that "any applicants who self-identify as women; cis, trans, and nonbinary women" may apply. Advocates have backed the change, noting that women's colleges were created to serve those sidelined by their gender.

The number of women's colleges in the U.S. has dropped from more than 200 to 30 as of fall 2023, per the Women's College Coalition.

A college spokesperson did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

The department's release noted that Title IX permits all-male or all-female colleges, but only "on the basis of biological sex difference, not subjective gender identity."

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said, "An all-women's college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males. Allowing biological males into spaces designed for women raises serious concerns about privacy, fairness, and compliance under federal law. The Trump Administration will continue to uphold the law and fight to restore common sense."

The Smith investigation arose from a June 2025 complaint to the Office of Civil Rights by the conservative group Defending Education.

"DE and its members oppose, among other things, discrimination on the basis of sex in America's K-12 schools and institutions of higher education," the group said in a release.

The Biden administration had issued new Title IX rules to block discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but a federal judge struck them down in January 2025 over legal flaws.