Trump admin invites all US colleges to join preferential funding ‘compact’
After the Massachusetts Institute of Technology rejected an offer from the Trump administration to sign a "compact" for preferential access to federal funding, the federal government is inviting other U.S. colleges to join, a White House official told MassLive.
The "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" was initially sent to nine institutions on Oct. 1. Though federal funding would remain available to all of the institutions, these schools would have an advantage in obtaining large grants. The initial nine institutions still have time to respond to the compact, according to the White House official.
While an anonymous source told Bloomberg that the Trump administration has invited all U.S. colleges to participate in the compact, a White House official told MassLive that the administration hasn't proactively reached out to all institutions.
"However, of course, we would not turn away universities that are wanting to make a positive difference and lead the way," the official said.
As part of the compact, the institutions would have to: ban race or sex-based hiring and admissions; freeze tuition for five years; cap international undergrad enrollment at 15%; require that applicants take the SAT or a similar test; and reduce grade inflation. These are just a few of a series of requirements; others involved creating better environments for conservatives.
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that higher education has "lost its way" and is "corrupting" youth.
"My Administration is fixing this, and FAST, with our Great Reform Agenda in Higher Education. Our Nation's Great Institutions will once again prioritize Merit and Hard Work before "group identity," he said.
"For those Institutions that want to quickly return to the pursuit of Truth and Achievement, they are invited to enter into a forward looking Agreement with the Federal Government to help bring about the Golden Age of Academic Excellence in Higher Education," he later added.
The other institutions invited included Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia.
Brown and the University of Pennsylvania have signed deals with the Trump administration. Notably absent on the list was Columbia University, which also penned a deal with the federal government in July .
Harvard University was also not on the list of nine institutions. President Donald Trump recently claimed his administration reached a $500 million deal with the university , but quickly reversed course and told reporters that the federal government was "close to finalizing" the agreement.
Sally Kornbluth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's president, wrote on Friday that the compact is "inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
MIT was the first institution to reject the compact.
In response to MIT's rejection of the compact, Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson, said the Trump administration's only request is for universities to "end discrimination."
"Any university that refuses this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform higher education isn't serving its students or their parents — they're bowing to radical, left-wing bureaucrats. The truth is, the best science can't thrive in institutions that have abandoned merit, free inquiry and the pursuit of truth. President Trump encourages universities to join us in restoring academic excellence and commonsense policies," Huston said.
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