Topline
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology turned down the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” on Friday, according to multiple reports, becoming the first school to reject the funding deal that looks to have a group of universities adhere to policy changes aligning with President Donald Trump’s agenda.
MIT issued the letter Friday. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a letter to Trump administration officials “we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”
Kornbluth said MIT meets or exceeds many of the standards outlined in the compact and that the school believes the compact would “restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution.”
MIT is one of nine schools that received the compact offer from the Trump administration, which looks to provide funding advantages to the universities in exchange for changes to their grading system, international student enrollment and applicant policies.
MIT stands alone as the one university to reject the compact, while the University of Texas said it was “honored” to be offered the compact, though it has not yet committed to its terms.
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What Universities Have Received The Compact?
Outside of MIT and the University of Texas, the compact was also sent to The University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia. It is unclear why the universities were selected and if any others will receive the same offer. Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania have publicly expressed concern about the compact but have not outright rejected signing it.
What Demands Does The Compact Include?
Universities agreeing to the compact will have to freeze tuition for five years, limit international student enrollment and commit to the government’s strict definition of gender, and apply it to sports participation and restroom access. The compact also demands the return of the SAT requirement for applicants if it is not already instituted, the removal of grade inflation, and a ban on the use of race and sex in hiring and admissions decisions. Universities are also asked to remove or make changes to departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”
Key Background
The Trump administration’s compact, which was blasted as “nothing short of a hostile takeover of America’s universities” by Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., is the latest push to get some of the nation’s largest universities to align with the president’s education agenda. The administration has frozen federal funding at multiple universities as part of a sweeping antisemitism investigation linked to pro-Palestinian protests on several campuses last year, securing settlements from schools like Brown University and Columbia University, the latter of which agreed to demands from Trump that clamped down on protest and security policies and called for reviews of programs focused on the Middle East. Harvard University is nearing a $500 million settlement with the Trump administration after it legally challenged the administration’s $2.2 billion funding freeze and its attempt to ban international student enrollment at the school. Separate from the antisemitism investigation, the University of Pennsylvania reached an agreement with the president to ban trans athletes from women’s sports after his administration alleged the school committed Title IX violations.
Further Reading
Newsom Says California Will Cut Funds For ‘Sell-Out Universities’ Complying With Trump Education Crackdown (Forbes)