The battle for academic freedom and institutional sovereignty in higher education continues to play out as another university has rejected a White House offer for expanded access to federal funding in return for agreeing to a series of demands.
Brown University on Wednesday declined an offer by the Trump administration to join a compact that would potentially give preferential funding in exchange for a list of changes to school policy, including no longer considering sex and ethnicity in admissions and capping international enrollment. The letter was sent to nine universities at the beginning of the month.
The compact is aimed at “the proactive improvement of higher education for the betterment of the country,” according to a letter sent to the universities.
Out of the nine offers, only Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have rejected the proposal. Other schools – a mix of public and private universities – have either said they are reviewing the compact or haven’t commented publicly.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/us/trump-universities-compact-funding
