NCAA Implements Ban on Transgender Women in Women’s Sports in Reaction To Trump’s Executive Order, Raising Compliance Questions for Schools

On February 7, 2025, the NCAA announced a new policy barring transgender women from competing in women’s collegiate sports, aligning with President Trump’s recent executive order mandating sex-based participation in athletics. This shift moves away from the NCAA’s prior sport-by-sport eligibility approach and now restricts women’s competition to athletes assigned female at birth.

The policy is expected to trigger legal challenges under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, including athletics. While Title IX has historically been interpreted to ensure equal opportunities for women in sports, its application to transgender athletes has been the subject of ongoing legal and political debate. The Biden administration previously interpreted Title IX to extend protections to transgender students, but the Trump administration’s stance, reflected in the executive order, applies a binary, sex-assigned-at-birth standard. Schools subject to both Title IX and NCAA regulations should carefully assess how this change interacts with their legal obligations.

Adding to the complexity, some former student-athletes have brought litigation alleging that they were, in fact, employees, challenging the long-standing view that college athletes are amateurs under federal law. Challenges to the NCAA’s new policy could take a similar approach—arguing that schools enforcing the rule are subject to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on sex, including transgender status. Additionally, state employment laws, some of which provide broader protections against gender identity discrimination, could lead to lawsuits predicated on state law violations.

Given these uncertainties, institutions should exercise caution when making decisions related to gender identity and athletic participation. As courts and agencies continue to grapple with the extent to which Title VII and Title IX’s protections extend to transgender student athletes, schools and athletic programs should closely monitor legal developments to ensure compliance with both evolving federal regulations and NCAA requirements.

Seyfarth previously wrote about President Trump’s Executive Order eradicating 'Gender Ideology' from the Federal Government in our previous alert here. We will continue to track this issue. If you have questions about how this change may affect your institution, please contact us.