Trump offers 9 elite universities more funds if they adopt his political agenda

UPDATED: Oct 3, 2025 06:50 IST

The White House has a new pitch for America’s top universities: More funding, but with strings attached. The Trump administration has sent a proposed agreement to nine elite schools — including MIT, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania, USC, Brown, and the University of Virginia — asking them to embrace the president’s political priorities in exchange for expanded federal funding.

The 10-page draft, called the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, lays out sweeping conditions. According to the Associated Press, universities would have to align with Washington on admissions, free speech, women’s sports, student discipline, and affordability. They would also be required to accept the government’s definition of gender, apply it to campus facilities and athletics, and restore mandatory SAT or ACT testing in admissions.

The deal dangles major incentives: “Substantial and meaningful” grants, higher overhead payments, and the chance to shape the compact’s final language before a November 21 deadline. The offer marks a shift in tone from Trump’s earlier strategy of cutting billions from schools accused of “liberal bias.”

Some provisions strike directly at long-standing campus practices. The compact would cap international enrollment at 15 percent, freeze tuition for five years, and force wealthy institutions to waive tuition for US students in science programmes. Universities would also have to monitor ideological diversity, dismantle units accused of suppressing conservative voices, and adopt strict policies against disruptive protests.

Reactions came swiftly. The University of Virginia confirmed it had convened administrators to study the proposal. Texas system regents welcomed the opportunity, calling it an “honour” to be included. But California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to pull state funding from any California campus that signs, saying his state “will not bankroll schools that surrender academic freedom.”

Critics warn the compact undermines higher education’s independence. Ted Mitchell, head of the American Council on Education, called it a “Faustian bargain.” Former Treasury secretary Larry Summers was blunter: the plan, he said, tries to “fix a watch with a hammer.”

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(With inputs from Associated Press)

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