Trump administration freezes $175 million in federal funding to UPenn over inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports

President Donald Trump's administration announced Wednesday that it would freeze more than $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), for "its inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports," according to a White House tweet.

News of the suspension follows an executive order signed by Trump on Feb. 5 that threatens to withhold federal funding from universities that allow biological men to participate in women's sports.

A senior administration official told FOX Business that this does not include UPenn's total federal funding, which the university reported last year was around $1 billion.

The funding pause is not directly related to the investigation into UPenn, which the Education Department announced the day after the president signed the "Keep Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, as mentioned earlier.

Acting Undersecretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement provided by the department in February that at least three universities would be investigated for alleged Title IX violations. 

Other universities under investigation

In addition to UPenn, San Jose State University, which made headlines last fall after several schools refused to play the women's volleyball team due to a trans athlete on the squad, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association are also under investigation for alleged violations.

UPenn first made headlines on the issue during the 2022 season when Lia Thomas, a transgender student-athlete, was named to the women's team. The squad went on to win a national championship title in the women's 500-yard freestyle.

Funds frozen and schools in crisis

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture also suspended funding to the University System of Maine, a network of eight public universities in the state. However, days later, the office of U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced that the funding freeze had been reversed.

In addition, this week Rep. Mary Miller, R-Illinois, called on the Trump administration to pull federal funding from an Illinois school district after a mother accused her 13-year-old daughter's school of forcing girls to change in front of a transgender student in the girls' locker room.

Since the start of his second term, Trump has implemented a series of executive orders and federal actions affecting institutions of higher education across the country, including the University of Pennsylvania. On February 7, the National Institutes of Health imposed a funding cut that could cost Penn $240 million.