The battle for academic freedom and institutional sovereignty in higher education continues to unfold as another university rejected a White House offer to expand access to federal funding in exchange for agreeing to a series of demands.
Brown University on Wednesday declined an offer from the Trump administration to join a pact that could potentially provide preferential funding in exchange for a slate of school policy changes, including no longer considering gender and ethnicity in admissions and capping international enrollment. The letter was sent to nine universities earlier this month.
The pact aims to “proactively improve higher education for the good of the country,” according to a letter sent to universities.
Of the nine offers, only Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology rejected the proposal. Other schools — a mix of public and private universities — have said they are reviewing the pact or have not made public comments.
These offers come as the Trump administration attempts different methods to establish an unprecedented level of control over universities – which are among the centers of cultural debate in American life.
As universities mull the Trump administration’s offer, here’s what we know about the upcoming choice.
Letters were sent to nine universities on October 1, asking them to accept a series of requests in exchange for expanded access to federal funding.
The selected schools, according to a White House official, include: Vanderbilt University, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, University of Arizona, Brown University and University of Virginia. Several of these schools have already had funding conflicts with the administration.
Universities were asked to implement ideological policies, such as removing factors such as gender and ethnicity from admissions criteria, to foster “a vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus” without “any dominant ideology, both politically and on other relevant lines”, as well as to evaluate the views of faculty and staff and adopt definitions of gender “based on reproductive function and processes biological,” according to a copy of the document obtained by CNN.
Schools that join must also commit to reforming or closing “institutional units that punish, demean, and even incite violence against conservative ideas,” the document states.
The letters also call for changes to other aspects of university culture, including a commitment to “grade integrity,” a mandatory five-year tuition freeze and a mandatory 15% cap for international students, the document says.
If the schools made the deal, they “would have priority for grants where possible as well as invitations to White House events and discussions with officials,” a White House official said when sending the letters.
To ensure enforcement, the pact would require faculty, students and staff to participate in an annual “anonymous survey” to see if universities are complying with the agreement.
Although the letter stated that “limited and targeted comments” would be welcomed, the pact was “largely in final form” and hoped to have the first signatories “no later than November 21, 2025.”
A first copy of the pact was drafted in December, according to a source familiar with the matter, with modifications made collaboratively since the president’s return to the White House.
Colleges and universities have been a target for Trump’s second term, and this is one of many attempts to get some universities to conform to his ideological demands.
Some schools, including several of the nine schools that received the letters, have been embroiled in funding battles since the new administration took office. While some leading schools have reached deals or concessions, others maintain their concerns despite pressure from government investigations or the revocation of grants.
Schools have even invested in federal lobbying, with a CNN analysis showing that Trump’s higher education targets together spent 122% more on lobbying spending in the second quarter of this year compared to last year, with nine of Trump’s 14 chosen institutions doubling their spending since last year.
Signing the pact would give universities “a competitive advantage,” a White House official previously said. The letter also said it would “bring multiple positive benefits to the school, including allocation for increased overhead where possible, substantial and meaningful federal grants, and other federal partnerships.”
Of the nine universities that officials say received the letter, only two have officially responded by declining the offer: MIT and Brown University.
MIT announced its refusal on October 10, when university President Sally Kornbluth said she recognized “the vital importance of these issues” but that the pact included principles that would ultimately “restrict free speech and our independence as an institution.”
Brown University President Christina H. Paxson made similar comments in her Wednesday letter to the administration, saying she planned to honor a July 30 agreement previously reached with the government, but that agreement “by its nature and through various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance.”
Vanderbilt University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Arizona said they were reviewing the pact, with Arizona’s president saying “the proposal generated a wide range of reactions and perspectives.” No schools have indicated whether they plan to enroll or not.
The University of Virginia convened a task force to evaluate the pact, but said “it would be difficult for the University to agree to certain provisions.”
Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock did not say what the school’s official course of action will be, but noted that the school “will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves.”
The University of Texas at Austin struck a different tone than its counterparts. They did not say whether they would sign the agreement, but they “welcome the new opportunity presented to us and we look forward to working with the Trump administration on this.”
CNN reached out to the University of Southern California to find out whether it plans to accept or reject the pact, although California Governor Gavin Newsom has threatened to withhold public funding from his state’s universities if they accept.