The U.S. Department of Education on Friday dismissed a sex discrimination complaint filed by a female-to-male transgender student against George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., The Willamette Week reported.

In April, Jayce said the Christian university discriminated against him when it refused to let him live in men's dormitories.

School officials refuted those claims and argued that allowing him to live in on-campus housing would interfere with the school's efforts to "be a Christ-centered community." They said Christian theology makes it necessary for their residential facilities to be single gender.

The U.S. Department of Education closed Jayce's complaint and granted the Oregon university a religious exemption to parts of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars gender discrimination by educational institutions. The decision, for the time being, dashes "any hope Jayce had of living on campus with the rest of his friends and classmates," the PQ Monthly reported.

"I'm shocked and disappointed that the federal government has given George Fox permission to discriminate against me and is allowing it to do so with federal funds," Jayce said, according to PQ Monthly. "But I'm not giving up. I deserve to be treated like the other men on campus. Apparently, the university disagrees, as they have made clear by forcing me to live off-campus."

The decision comes two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby, a chain of retail arts and crafts stores based in Oklahoma City, can refuse to finance birth control for its employees based on its religious beliefs.

 "To my knowledge, this is the first Christian college to ask the federal government for a permission slip to discriminate against transgender students," Paul Southwick, Jayce's lawyer, told PQ Monthly.

Southick told Inside Higher Ed that he respects the rights and religious freedoms of colleges that do not take federal funds, but he noted that George fox does take federal aid "and educates students from non-Quaker faiths, even if all employees must be Christian and a 'lifestyle statement' applies to all."

"This is worse than Hobby Lobby because George Fox is largely funded by taxpayer money. While the government may have granted George Fox an exemption for the time being, private companies do not need to tolerate this discriminatory behavior. Nike, whose logo is on George Fox's athletic gear, and Intel and Starbucks, who are major employers of George Fox graduates, can let the university know how they feel about the university's discriminatory actions."

Jayce is currently living off campus with a group of guys this fall term. He plans to fight the U.S. Department of Education's ruling.