The Trump administration paused $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania over its inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports, FOX Business exclusively reported on Wednesday morning.
The Ivy League university now stands to risk losing all of its federal funding amid an investigation into potential Title IX violations.
A senior administration official told FOX Business that the administration has paused $175 million in federal funding. This did not account for UPenn’s total federal funding, which the university previously reported last year was around $1 billion.
The pause is not a direct result of the investigation into UPenn, which the Department of Education announced a day after the president signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order on Feb. 5.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement provided by the department last month that three institutions would be investigated for suspected Title IX violations.
In addition to UPenn, San Jose State University, which made headlines in the fall after several schools refused to play the women’s volleyball team because of a trans athlete on the roster, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association are also being investigated for suspected violations.
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UPenn first made headlines during the 2022 season when Lia Thomas, a transgender student athlete, was put on the women’s team and would eventually go on to win a national championship title in the women’s 500-yard freestyle.
Thomas would also tie with former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle that year, although it would be Thomas that solely received the trophy during the awards ceremony.
Thomas’ participation sparked a national debate surrounding girls’ and women’s sports, which, under the Trump administration, has seen several states at odds with federal law.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture paused funding to the University of Maine System, a network of eight public colleges in the state, but days later, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office said the funding freeze had been reversed.
Additionally, this week, Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., called on the Trump administration to pull federal funding from an Illinois school district after one mother accused her 13-year-old daughter’s school of forcing girls to change in front of another trans student in the girl’s locker room.
UPenn has posted several statements online as the university braced for cuts in federal funding. Fox News Digital reached out to the university on Wednesday following the latest reports of funding cuts.
FOX Business’ Hillary Voughn contributed to this report.
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