The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights launched a federal investigation Monday into Smith College, one of the nation’s most prominent historic women’s institutions, over its policy of admitting men who identify as transgender women.
The probe was confirmed in a letter sent to Defending Education, a conservative watchdog organization that filed a civil rights complaint against Smith in June 2025. The letter states the Office for Civil Rights is examining whether Smith’s admissions and facilities policies violate Title IX, the federal law barring sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funding.
“The complaint alleges that the College, one of the largest women’s colleges in the United States, discriminates against women on the basis of sex by admitting males who identify as women (‘self-identified transgender women’) and by permitting male students to use intimate facilities designated for women,” the agency wrote. “[The Office of Civil Rights] is opening the complaint for investigation.”
Smith College is located in Northampton, Massachusetts, and is a founding member of the Seven Sisters, the historically all-women’s consortium that also includes Wellesley, Vassar, and Barnard. The school began admitting men who identify as women in 2015, following a year-long internal study commissioned by then-President Kathleen McCartney.
Under its current policy, admission is based entirely on self-identification. “People who identify as women — cis, trans, and nonbinary women — are eligible to apply to Smith,” the college states on its website. “Smith’s policy is one of self-identification. The applicant’s affirmation of identity is sufficient.” No medical documentation or legal name change is required.
The school already operates an “all-gender locker room” inside its athletic complex and says it is expanding multi-stall all-gender restrooms across campus. Smith admitted roughly 22% of applicants for the 2024-2025 academic year, making it one of the more selective women’s colleges in the country — and precisely the kind of competitive institution where an admissions spot carries real weight.
That’s the crux of the complaint. Defending Education argues that allowing men to compete for spots in an institution built for women effectively squeezes out the female applicants the school was chartered to serve, amounting to sex discrimination under federal law.
Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry said Monday she welcomed federal scrutiny of Smith’s policies.
“Smith College has a longstanding reputation as a women’s college of exclusive excellence,” Perry said. “But that hasn’t prevented it from falling victim to the fiction of ‘transgender’ womanhood. Admitting men who feel like women means that the institution — formerly one of the nation’s prestigious ‘Seven Sisters’ all-women’s colleges — is no longer for women only.”
The Office for Civil Rights will now determine whether the complaint has merit. If the agency finds Smith in violation of Title IX, the college could face a loss of federal funding — a significant consequence given that millions in federal financial aid flow through the school each year.
Smith College had not issued a public statement in response to the investigation as of Monday evening.
The Trump administration has moved aggressively in recent months to scrutinize colleges and universities that have adopted transgender-inclusive policies the administration argues conflict with existing federal sex discrimination protections. Smith’s case could become a test of how far those protections extend into the historically women-only college space.
