U.S. Education Department Opens Title IX Investigation Into Smith College Admissions Policy

U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Smith College on Monday, examining whether the all-women's institution violated Title IX by admitting transgender women. The probe, announced by the department's Office of Civil Rights, argues that the Title IX single-sex exception applies only to biological sex and not gender identity.

This marks the latest action by the Trump administration to address transgender rights in education. Smith College, a private liberal arts school founded in 1871 and located in western Massachusetts, is one of the Seven Sisters schools. The college has admitted transgender women since 2015.

Its website states that any applicants who self-identify as women, including cis, trans, and nonbinary women, are eligible to apply. Title IX, a 1972 law forbidding discrimination based on sex in education, contains an exception allowing all-male or all-female enrollment at institutions. U.S.

Department of Education contends this exception pertains solely to biological sex. The investigation stems from a complaint filed with the Office of Civil Rights in June 2025 by Defending Education. U.S.

Declined from more than 200 to 30 as of fall 2023, according to the Women's College Coalition. Smith College's policy drew attention in 2013 when a transgender high school senior was denied acceptance because her gender identity did not match the one on her financial aid forms, prompting on-campus activism.

Many elite women's colleges have since adopted similar inclusive admissions policies, with advocates arguing they were founded to educate those marginalized because of their gender.