TUCSON, AZ — The battle for academic freedom and institutional sovereignty in higher education continues to play out as another university has rejected a White House offer for expanded access to federal funding in return for agreeing to a series of demands.
The University of Southern California and the University of Pennsylvania on Thursday declined an offer by the Trump administration to join a compact that would potentially give preferential funding in exchange for a list of changes to school policy, including no longer considering sex and ethnicity in admissions and capping international enrollment. The letter was sent to nine universities at the beginning of the month, and a total of four schools have rejected the offer so far.
The compact is aimed at “the proactive improvement of higher education for the betterment of the country,” according to a letter sent to the universities.
Out of the nine offers, USC, Penn, Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have rejected the proposal. Other schools – a mix of public and private universities – have either said they are reviewing the compact or haven’t commented publicly.
The offers come as the Trump administration attempts different methods of crafting an unprecedented level of control over universities – among the centers of cultural debate in American life.
As universities contemplate the Trump administration’s offer, here is what we know about the choice ahead.
What the compact is
Letters were sent to nine universities on October 1, asking them to agree to a series of demands in return for expanded access to federal funding.
The selected schools, according to a White House official, include: Vanderbilt University, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, University of Arizona, Brown University and University of Virginia. Several of these schools have already had funding disputes with the administration.
The universities were asked to implement ideological polices, such as removing factors like sex and ethnicity from admissions consideration, to foster “a vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus” with “no single ideology dominant, both along political and other relevant lines,” as well as to assess faculty and staff viewpoints, and adopt definitions of gender “according to reproductive function and biological processes,” according to a copy of the document obtained by CNN.
Schools that sign on must also commit to reforming or shuttering “institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” the document says.
The letters also request changes to other aspects of university culture, including a commitment to “grade integrity,” a mandatory five-year freeze on tuition costs, and a 15% required cap on international students, the document says.
If the schools enter the agreement, they “would be given priority for grants when possible as well as invitations for White House events and discussions with officials,” a White House official said when the letters were sent.
To ensure enforcement, the compact would require faculty, students and staff to participate in an annual “anonymous poll” to see if universities are complying with the agreement.
While the letter said that “limited, targeted feedback” would be welcomed, the compact was “largely in its final form” and hoped to have initial signatories “no later than November 21, 2025.”
An initial copy of the compact was drafted in December, according to a source familiar with the matter, with edits and changes made collaboratively since the president returned to the White House.
What is at stake for the schools
Colleges and universities have been a target for Trump’s second term, and this is one of several attempts to get select universities to comply with their ideological requirements.
Some schools, including several of the nine schools that received the letters, have been involved in funding battles since the new administration assumed power. While some prominent schools have made deals or concessions, others maintain their concerns despite pressure through government investigations or revoked grants.
Schools have even invested in federal lobbying, with a CNN analysis showing that Trump’s higher education targets have together spent 122% more in lobbying expenses in Q2 of this year compared with last year, with nine out of 14 institutions singled out by Trump doubling their spending since last year.
Signing onto the compact would give the universities “a competitive advantage,” a White House official previously said. The letter also said that it would “yield multiple positive benefits for the school, including allowance for increased overhead payments where feasible, substantial and meaningful federal grants, and other federal partnerships.”
How schools have responded
Of the nine universities that the officials said were sent the letter, four have formally responded by declining the offer – MIT, Penn, Brown University and USC.
University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson said he informed the US Department of Education Thursday that the school declines the proposed compact after receiving input from faculty, students, trustees and others.
Penn “provided focused feedback highlighting areas of existing alignment as well as substantive concerns,” Jameson said in a statement to the community.
USC also declined the offer Thursday, with the university’s Interim President Beong-Soo Kim citing concerns with agreeing to the compact.
While the school recognizes the administration is trying to address issues in higher education, “tying research benefits to it (the compact) would, over time, undermine the same values of free inquiry and academic excellence that the Compact seeks to promote,” Kim said in a letter to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon that was shared online.
“Other countries whose governments lack America’s commitment to freedom and democracy have shown how academic excellence can suffer when shifting external priorities tilt the research playing field away from free, meritocratic competition,” Kim said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom previously threatened to withhold state funding to universities in his state that agree to the compact.
MIT announced its refusal on October 10, when university President Sally Kornbluth said she acknowledged “the vital importance of these matters,” but that the compact included principles that ultimately “would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution.”
Brown University President Christina H. Paxson made similar comments in her Wednesday letter to the administration, saying they plan to abide by a July 30 agreement they previously reached with the government, but that this compact “by its nature and by various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance.”
Vanderbilt University and the University of Arizona have said they are reviewing the compact, with Arizona’s president saying the “proposal has generated a wide range of reactions and perspectives.” Neither of the schools have indicated if they are planning to sign on or not.
The University of Virginia has assembled a working group to assess the compact, but said “it would be difficult for the University to agree to certain provisions.”
Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock didn’t say what the school’s official course of action will be, but noted that the school “will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves.”
The University of Texas at Austin took a different tone than its counterparts. They didn’t say if they would sign the agreement, but they “welcome the new opportunity presented to us and we look forward to working with the Trump Administration on it.”
