Education Department is investigating whether Smith College’s admissions violate Title IX – but this law doesn’t actually apply to the case
The probe could test whether private women’s colleges can keep transgender-inclusive admissions policies under federal civil rights law.
- On May 4, 2026, the Education Department opened a Title IX investigation into Smith College for admitting transgender students, marking a new front in the Trump administration's challenge to school policies.
- The administration maintains that sex is assigned at birth and unchangeable, shifting from prior efforts focused on restricting bathrooms and team sports to now targeting admissions policies at schools with transgender-inclusive practices.
- Title IX, a 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education, does not apply to private college admissions decisions, though it does authorize single-sex institutions like Smith to exist.
- The investigation forces Smith to expend significant time and money on legal defense, testing whether the institution can withstand pressure from a hostile executive branch even if the probe does not result in a lawsuit.
- Where Smith goes, other institutions will likely follow, as the administration continues pressuring schools through funding freezes and civil rights investigations, including recent probes into K-12 bathroom policies nationwide.
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The Conversation
Education Department is investigating whether Smith College’s admissions violate Title IX – but this law doesn’t actually apply to the case
Smith College is one of the 30 all-women's colleges in the U.S. Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesSince 2015, Smith College, one of the largest and most prestigious women’s liberal arts colleges in the United States, has allowed any student who identifies as female to apply to and attend the school. Over the past decade or so, most other women’s colleges in the U.S. have taken similar steps, permitting transgender female students t…
Inside the Trump Administration’s Attack on Smith College and Title IX
Donald Trump’s administration is turning Title IX—the 1972 law Congress passed to protect women—into a weapon against women and higher education. On May 4, the U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation into Smith College—one of the nation’s leading women’s colleges, where I teach—putting both its federal funding and students’ federal loans at risk. In a press release, the DOE suggests the Massachusetts-based school violates Title I…
Training Division is investigating whether or not Smith School’s admissions violate Identify IX – however this regulation doesn’t in reality practice to the case
Since 2015, Smith School, probably the most greatest and maximum prestigious ladies’s liberal arts faculties in america, has allowed any scholar who identifies as feminine to use to and attend the varsity. Over the last decade or so, maximum different ladies’s faculties within the U.S. have taken identical steps, allowing transgender feminine scholars to use. The Trump management is attempting to finish that apply. The Division of Training intro…
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