October 3, 2025
Trump Dangles Federal Funds To Strong-Arm Colleges Into His Agenda
With asking for a decision by Nov. 21., the effort is a continued stretch of having Republicans and conservatives reshape college and university culture as they claim have become overwhelmingly liberal - too “woke.”
The White House is seeking to lure nine colleges and universities into President Donald Trump’s agenda with promises of receiving favorable access to federal money, Associated Press reports.
The 10-page letter titled, “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” was sent to Vanderbilt, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University, and the University of Virginia — some of the country’s most selective public and private universities — but it isn’t clear as to why or how they were chosen.
Trump’s team proposes that colleges adopt the administration’s vision for America’s education campuses, committing to adhering to priorities surrounding admission policies, women’s sports, free speech, student discipline, tuition affordability, and other key areas. The proposal also suggests accepting the government’s definition of gender by applying it to campus bathrooms and locker rooms.
Following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to overturn affirmative action, the White House is seeking to have schools stop considering race, gender, and various student demographics in their admissions processes.
With asking for a decision by Nov. 21, the effort is a continued stretch of having Republicans and conservatives reshape college and university culture, which they claim has become overwhelmingly liberal, too “woke.” However, critics are slamming the move.
President of the American Council on Education, which represents nearly 1,600 presidents of colleges and universities, Ted Mitchell, believes the move threatens academic independence. “Any effort to reward or punish institutions based on their adherence to the views of government officials should trouble all Americans,” Mitchell, who also served in the Obama administration, said, according to USA Today.
“Defining what constitutes a vigorous and open-ended intellectual environment is not the role of the federal government, and the implications for free speech and academic freedom are chilling.”
Coming with limited surprise, one of Trump’s biggest critics, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, issued a stern warning on X, alerting the administration that there is no way state colleges included in the list will “bend” to the proposal. “California universities that bend to the will of Donald Trump and sign this insane ‘compact’ will lose billions in state funding — IMMEDIATELY. California will not bankroll schools that sign away academic freedom,” he wrote.
However, some schools are looking forward to reviewing the proposal and working with the White House. Leaders of the Texas system said they were “honored” that the University of Texas at Austin was selected to be a part of the compact. “Today we welcome the new opportunity presented to us and we look forward to working with the Trump Administration on it,” chair of the Board of Regents Kevin Eltife said in a statement.
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