An article from Feds suspend $175M to University of Pennsylvania over trans athletics policy

The Trump administration shared the news in a social media post, but a Penn spokesperson said the institution hasn’t received “official notification or any details.”

Published March 19, 2025 Natalie Schwartz Senior Editor

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View of the University of Pennsylvania's campus through the arched door of Fisher Fine Arts on Oct. 27, 2023. aimintang via Getty Images Listen to the article 3 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

The Trump administration has suspended $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania, citing its athletics participation policies for transgender students, according to a Wednesday post from a White House social media account. 

The cuts are to discretionary spending from the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to Fox Business, the first to report the news. 

“We are aware of media reports suggesting a suspension of $175 million in federal funding to Penn, but have not yet received any official notification or any details,” a Penn spokesperson said via email Wednesday. 

The spokesperson added, “We have been in the past, and remain today, in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions.”

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In an executive order last month, President Donald Trump barred colleges and K-12 schools from allowing transgender women to play on sports teams that align with their gender identity and threatened to pull all federal funding from institutions that don’t comply. 

The day after Trump signed the directive, the U.S. Department of Education opened a Title IX investigation into Penn, San José State University and a K-12 athletics association over policies the agency said were out of step with the executive order. 

Former Penn swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, has been at the center of polarizing debates over gender identity and college athletics participation. In 2022, Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I championship for her victory in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. 

Last week, more than a dozen college athletes sued the NCAA, alleging that allowing Thomas to compete in the championship violated Title IX, the sweeping statute barring sex-based discrimination in federally funded institutions. 

The complaint comes only a month after a similar lawsuit was filed against Penn and the NCAA over Thomas’ participation in the Ivy League’s 2022 swimming championship. 

The NCAA updated its policies after Trump’s executive order to only allow students assigned female at birth to compete in women’s athletics.

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