Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a letter along with a White House memo asking nine universities to follow administration rules in order to get priority grant funding. File Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
President Donald Trump has asked certain major universities to sign a pact that would ensure the federal government would prioritize research funding to them.
The 10-point memo, titled the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” was sent to nine universities that the administration deems “highly reasonable” institutions, The Hill reported.
A letter included in the memo by Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the universities would get “multiple positive benefits” if they sign, such as “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” the Wall Street Journal originally reported.
The universities getting the memo were: Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia, a White House official said.
“They have a president who is a reformer or a board that has really indicated they are committed to a higher-quality education,” said May Mailman, White House senior adviser for special projects.
The pledges in the compact would force the colleges to freeze tuition for five years, limit the enrollment of international students to 15% and enforce strict gender definitions. They would have to post the earnings of students who graduated with certain majors and expand opportunities for service members. They would have to change their governance structures to ban anything that would “punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas.” Schools with an endowment of more than than $2 billion will not charge undergraduates going into hard sciences.
If a school doesn’t sign the compact, they could still get grants but wouldn’t get priority or possible White House invitations for events, Mailman said.
“The University of Texas system is honored that our flagship — the University of Texas at Austin — has been named as one of only nine institutions in the U.S. selected by the Trump administration for potential funding advantages under its new Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” Kevin P. Eltife, the chairman of the University of Texas Board of Regents, said in a statement. “We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately.”
Other schools haven’t yet responded publicly.
