Trump Administration Opens Federal Probe Into Smith College Over Trans Student Admissions

Smith College, one of the nation's best-known women's colleges, is facing a federal civil rights investigation over its policy allowing transgender women to enroll, opening a new front in the Trump administration's broader effort to redefine Title IX protections around biological sex.

The U.S. Department of Education said its Office for Civil Rights opened the investigation into the private liberal arts college in Northampton, Massachusetts. The department said the probe will examine whether Smith violated Title IX, the 1972 federal law barring sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding, by admitting transgender women and allowing them access to women-only spaces.

At the center of the dispute is a Title IX provision that allows private undergraduate colleges to operate as single-sex institutions. The Education Department argues that the exception applies "on the basis of biological sex difference, not subjective gender identity," according to AP.

"An all-women's college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males," Kimberly Richey, the assistant secretary for civil rights, said in the department's announcement, according to The Washington Post. Richey also said allowing transgender women into spaces designed for women raises "serious concerns about privacy, fairness, and compliance under federal law."

Smith has admitted transgender women since 2015, after years of student activism and national debate over who should be eligible to attend women's colleges. Its current admissions policy says applicants who "self-identify as women; cis, trans, and nonbinary women" are eligible to apply.

The policy shift followed a 2013 controversy in which a transgender high school student said Smith denied her application because her gender identity did not match information on her financial aid forms. Smith later said its clarified policy reflected "a women's college that is steadfast in its founding mission yet evolving to reflect a changing world," according to The Washington Post.

The investigation stems from a 2025 complaint filed by Defending Education, a conservative group that accused Smith of undermining legal protections for female students. The group said Monday that Smith had "betrayed its original mission" by admitting transgender women, according to The Washington Post.

Smith said Monday it is committed to complying with civil rights laws but does not comment on pending government investigations.

The case could have consequences beyond Smith. Many women's colleges have adopted policies admitting transgender women, while others have moved in the opposite direction. Sweet Briar College in Virginia announced in 2024 that it would not admit transgender women.

The number of women's colleges in the United States has declined sharply, from more than 200 historically to about 30 as of fall 2023, according to the Women's College Coalition.