Claim: The NCAA will maintain its transgender athlete policy despite a Supreme Court ruling allowing state restrictions.

On Tuesday, June 30, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states may prohibit transgender athletes from competing on girls’ and women’s school sports teams. The Court held that these laws do not violate either Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. or the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The ruling allows states to determine eligibility for girls’ and women’s sports based on biological sex, with the stated goal of preserving competitive fairness and athletic opportunities. However, it does not impose a nationwide ban on transgender athletes. Instead, it gives states the authority to enforce such restrictions if they choose. 

States without these laws remain free to set their own policies. However, a day after the ruling, NCAA President Charlie Baker told CBS News that the organization does not need to change its transgender athlete policy. Is that really the case? Here’s what we found.

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Our Verdict: True

Shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the issue in early 2025, the NCAA Board of Governors updated its transgender athlete policy.

Under the revised rules, women’s teams are limited to athletes assigned female at birth. Athletes assigned male at birth are not eligible to compete on women’s teams, although they may still practice with them and receive related benefits. Men’s teams, meanwhile, remain open to all athletes. The policy serves as a nationwide standard for all NCAA member schools.

Given that, it isn’t surprising that NCAA President Charlie Baker said the Supreme Court’s ruling does not require the organization to change its policies.

“I had said to folks, Democrats and Republicans in Washington, after I got this job, that we needed some sort of clarity around what the national standard for this would be, and we adopted and comply with the standard that was put forth by the Trump administration,” Baker said on CBS News’ Face the Nation. “I think what happens at the state level is a different question.”

Outside the NCAA, however, the landscape remains far less uniform. Some states prohibit transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, while others allow them to participate. As a result, conflicts can arise between state policies and the NCAA’s nationwide eligibility rules.

In states that permit transgender athletes to compete in women’s school sports, those athletes may still participate in high school, youth, or local‑level competitions under state rules. However, they would not be eligible to compete in NCAA women’s events unless they meet the NCAA’s eligibility requirements.

While Baker notes that states without bans can set their own local rules, higher‑education legal experts say this leaves NCAA member universities walking a new legal tightrope. In permissive states, institutions must decide whether to align fully with state guidelines on participation while still complying with NCAA eligibility rules.

Baker emphasized that the NCAA’s policy remains unchanged regardless of differences in state law.

“Our national standard is going to be what we expect our schools to use with respect to eligibility issues for college sports,” he said. “But obviously, different states will have different standards about how to deal with high school and youth sports.”

Our fact-checking sources: 

• CBS News, June 30, 2026. Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports
• CBS News, July 1, 2026. NCAA leader says no plan to change rules on transgender athletes after Supreme Court ruling
• Face the Nation, July 5, 2026. Full Interview: NCAA President Charlie Baker
• NCAA, February 6, 2025. NCAA announces transgender student-athlete participation policy change