All colleges and universities can now sign on to a higher ed compact, which offers preferential funding in exchange for compliance with components of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Trump initially invited nine institutions to accept the deal, which would have required the schools to cap tuition rates, restrict international enrollment and end DEI programs. One of the institutions, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, rejected the deal on Friday, while the University of Texas has responded positively.
Bloomberg was the first to report Trump’s expansion of the offer. A source told Bloomberg that “a number of schools had reached out to express interest” in the White House’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.
“Higher Education has lost its way, and is now corrupting our Youth and Society with WOKE, SOCIALIST, and ANTI-AMERICAN Ideology,” Trump posted on Truth Social, according to Bloomberg. “My Administration is fixing this, and FAST, with our Great Reform Agenda in Higher Education.”
The federal government shutdown is also having a growing impact on higher ed. Reuters reported that the administration fired almost all Department of Education staff who were managing a college preparation program for low-income students known as TRIO.
Trump’s compact gets a mixed response
In a letter sent to Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Friday, MIT President Sally Kornbluth argued that Trump’s compact would “restrict freedom of expression” and would politicize federal research funding by prioritizing factors unrelated to scientific merit.
“The premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone,” Kornbluth wrote.
In a statement to The Texas Tribune, University of Texas System Board of Regents Chair Kevin Eltife said the system was “honored” that UT-Austin was on the compact’s initial list of institutions.
“We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately,” said Eltife, adding that Republicans in the state had already implemented sweeping changes to higher ed.
The other campuses included in the original offer were the University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia. Leaders, faculty groups and students at some of those institutions are speaking out against Trump’s compact.
“This Compact contains provisions which endanger the independence, excellence and integrity of the University of Arizona and infringe on the constitutional rights of members of the University of Arizona community,” a statement by the school’s faculty senate read.
Eye on enrollment: Early numbers suggest international student downturn this fall
