Trump administration sends out 'Compact for Academic Excellence,' offers big benefits for colleges that sign
The compact would guarantee multiple benefits for schools that sign on, but these institutions would also be held to standards outlined in the document.
Nine universities were included in the first round of invitees to sign the compact.
The Trump administration is rolling out a new plan to reshape higher education, offering lucrative incentives to universities that agree to a sweeping set of reforms.
Dubbed the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” the initiative sets out ten requirements schools must adopt in order to receive preferential access to federal funds.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House’s stated goal with the compact is to restore fairness, accountability, and academic integrity to institutions of higher education.
Among the conditions, universities must eliminate race and sex preferences in admissions and hiring, freeze tuition for five years, cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15%, reinstate SAT or equivalent testing, and take steps to curb grade inflation. The compact also demands cultural changes, including abolishing departments accused of fostering hostility toward conservative ideas and ensuring a “vibrant marketplace” of debate on campus.
In exchange, participating schools would enjoy major benefits ranging from “substantial” federal grants to priority invitations for White House events as well as direct consultation with administration officials.
MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Arizona, the University of Virginia, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Southern California were the first institutions to receive invitations.
A White House adviser told WSJ that the White House believes the schools could be “good actors,” as they each have a president or board committed to higher-quality education.
The compact also tackles the rising cost of college.
Schools that sign on must publish post-graduation earnings by degree program, refund tuition for students who drop out during their first semester, and reduce bloated administrative costs. Endowment-heavy institutions will be expected to waive tuition for students who pursue hard science and engineering programs.
To ensure compliance, universities will be required to bring in independent auditors who will survey students and staff. Results will be made public and reviewed by the Department of Justice.
The new program is voluntary, but university officials will be expected to hold their institutions to the standards put forward in the compact. Schools that fail to meet the agreed-upon rules may be forced to return federal and private funding collected during the year.
The initiative comes after months of escalating confrontations between the Trump administration and elite schools, many of which have faced scrutiny over antisemitism, DEI policies, and free speech controversies.
Columbia and Brown have already agreed to multimillion-dollar settlements, while Harvard remains locked in a legal battle with the administration over nearly $1 billion in federal funding.
