Trump’s ‘Compact’ Faces Broad Opposition

By: CJ Neely
Thursday, November 13, 2025
On October 1, the White House and the United States Department of Education sent the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education to nine universities. The proposal offered preferential access to federal research funding in exchange for adopting policy commitments such as prohibiting consideration of race or sex in admissions, capping international student enrollment, and restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

By late October, seven of the nine invited universities— Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Virginia, and University of Arizona —had formally rejected the Compact, citing concerns about academic freedom and merit-based funding. The remaining two institutions, Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas at Austin, have not publicly committed either way. This has prompted campus rallies and letters of opposition from students and faculty.

The administration has since opened the Compact’s offer to all U.S. colleges and universities. Valley Forge Military College submitted a letter to the Department of Education on October 28 expressing its intent to participate, making it the first institution to support the Compact publicly. The proposal continues to spark national discussion about the balance between federal funding conditions, higher education governance, and institutional independence.