With no takers yet, White House meets with colleges still weighing an
agreement with Trump
[October 18, 2025]
By COLLIN BINKLEY and JONATHAN MATTISE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The five universities that were still weighing
President Donald Trump’s higher-education compact were asked to join a
White House call Friday to discuss the proposed deal. By late Friday
afternoon, one of the schools — the University of Virginia — had already
declined to sign the agreement.
The meeting with university presidents, first reported by The Associated
Press, was an “important step toward defining a shared vision,”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a post on X. She called for
“renewed commitment to the time-honored principles that helped make
American universities great" and said she looked forward to more
dialogue.
The White House has faced a flurry of rejections after inviting nine
universities to become “initial signatories” of the so-called compact,
which asked colleges to make commitments aligned with Trump’s political
priorities in exchange for favorable access to research funding. It was
the latest effort by Trump's administration to bring to heel prestigious
universities that conservatives describe as hotbeds of liberalism.
The White House asked university leaders to provide initial feedback on
the compact by Oct. 20, yet as the deadline approaches, none has signed
on to the document. Those that have not yet announced a decision are
Dartmouth College, the University of Arizona, the University of Texas
and Vanderbilt University. They did not immediately respond to questions
about Friday’s call. Leaders of the University of Texas system
previously said they were honored to be included, but other universities
still weighing the deal have not indicated how they’re leaning.
After the meeting, McMahon took a collaborative tone, speaking of
ongoing discussions with universities and referencing continued federal
funding.
“American universities power our economy, drive innovation, and prepare
young people for rewarding careers and fulfilling lives,” she said in
the social media post. “With continued federal investment and strong
institutional leadership, the higher education sector can do more to
enhance American leadership in the world and build tomorrow’s
workforce.”
No takers so far
Nevertheless, the University of Virginia on Friday became the fifth
university to decline to participate in Trump's compact. Providing
federal money based on anything but merit would undermine the integrity
of research and further erode public confidence in higher education, the
university's interim president said in a letter to McMahon and White
House officials.
“We look forward to working together to develop alternative, lasting
approaches to improving higher education,” Paul Mahoney wrote.
It’s unclear exactly what universities have to gain by agreeing to the
deal — or what they stand to lose if they don’t. In a letter sent
alongside the compact, Trump officials said it provided “multiple
positive benefits,” including favorable access to federal funding. In
exchange, colleges were asked to adopt 10 pages of commitments aligned
with Trump’s views.
The administration asked for commitments to eliminate race and sex from
admissions decisions, to accept the government’s strict binary
definition of “man” and “woman,” to promote conservative views on campus
and to ensure “institutional neutrality” on current events, among other
provisions.
“Institutions of higher education are free to develop models and values
other than those below, if the institution elects to forego federal
benefits,” the compact said.
The issue weighed on some students at Vanderbilt on Friday, with some
worrying the university might sign the agreement even after student and
faculty groups condemned it.
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Pro-Palestinian supporters continue their encampment protest on
Vanderbilt University campus Friday, May 3, 2024, in Nashville,
Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, file)
“My major concern is just that this is like a first hook,” Marjolein
Mues, a postdoctoral researcher in language development in the
brain, said in an interview at the Nashville campus. “And once
universities agree to this, the terms will change, and more and more
will be asked of universities, and that maybe the government will
start to interfere more with the types of research being done here.”
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was the first to decline
the deal last week, saying it would limit free speech and campus
independence. Similar concerns were cited in rejections from Brown
University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of
Southern California.
A push to change academia
The compact — which aims to reshape higher education through
negotiation rather than legislation — has stirred a wave of pushback
from academia and beyond. It has been protested by students, been
condemned by faculty and drawn the ire of Democrats at all levels.
Gov. Gavin Newsom in California and Democrats in Virginia have
threatened to cut state funding to any university that signs on.
In a joint statement Friday, more than 30 higher education
organizations urged the administration to withdraw the compact. Led
by the American Council on Education, an association of research
universities, the coalition said the agreement would give the
government unprecedented control over colleges' academics and hinder
free speech.
“The compact is a step in the wrong direction,” the statement said.
Many of the terms align with recent deals the White House struck
with Brown and Columbia universities to close investigations into
alleged discrimination and to restore research funding. But while
those agreements included terms affirming the campuses’ academic
freedom, the compact offers no such protection — one of the
roadblocks cited in Brown’s rejection.
In Trump's ongoing quest to win obedience from powerful
universities, his top target has been Harvard, the first university
to openly defy a set of wide-ranging demands from the government.
The White House went on to slash billions of dollars in research
funding at Harvard, cancel its federal contracts and attempt to
block the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students.
A federal judge in Boston reversed the funding cuts last month,
calling them an unconstitutional overreach.
Several other prestigious universities have also had their funding
cut amid investigations into alleged antisemitism.
White House officials described the offer as a proactive approach to
shape policy at U.S. campuses even as the administration continues
its enforcement efforts.
Trump on Sunday said colleges that sign on will help bring about
“the Golden Age of Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
Speaking on his Truth Social platform, he said it would reform
universities that are “now corrupting our Youth and Society with
WOKE, SOCIALIST, and ANTI-AMERICAN Ideology.”
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