First Columbia…..
Then Harvard….
The effort goes on….
But….
M.I.T. is now joining Harvard in resisting the effort’s against them…
The Trump administration has spent the year trying to assert control over universities by launching civil rights probes, freezing millions in federal research dollars and throttling their international student enrollment. And while the federal government has spent months in court fighting Harvard University, Columbia University — the administration’s first target — signed a deal over the summer that Trump critics saw as capitulation.
Over the past few weeks, Trump administration officials have flipped their strategy and are now trying to sell universities on a deal that will net them federal cash, business and a bit of White House praise — a suite of benefits that aren’t explicitly in the contract.
It’s an arrangement former college presidents are urging their schools to reject.
“It’s pretty vague what the advantages are of signing the compact,” said Teresa Sullivan, the former president of the University of Virginia, one of nine colleges the Trump administration is trying to court. “If you’re thinking of this as a deal, it’s a one-sided deal.”
The benefits of Trump’s “compact” include “increased overhead payments where feasible” and “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” according to a cover letter sent to university leaders alongside the agreement. But the White House is offering things colleges enjoyed until just a few months ago.
Sullivan and others say the offer is all sticks and no carrots. And while the compact itself makes no mention of the benefits the White House is offering, it does spell out what costly financial penalties schools will face if they fall short of what the administration deems as compliance.
Mitchell, who now leads the American Council on Education, which represents roughly 1,600 institutions, said many university leaders agree with statements about the need for addressing the cost of college, discrimination and free speech.
“But we will not compromise our independence as institutions and we will not allow higher education to be an instrument of the government,” he said….
…
The initial group of nine universities has been asked to submit feedback by Oct. 20, with an eye toward inviting those schools in “clear alignment” with the administration’s effort to the White House by Nov. 21.
How those first nine leaders respond could usher in a new era of how the federal government decides which schools it will work with and the terms they must agree to. But so far, several leaders appear to be leaning towards aligning with Kornbluth’s decision….
Brown Rejects White House Deal for Special Treatment
“Brown University on Wednesday rejected a White House proposal to steer public money toward schools that aligned with President Trump’s priorities, defying the federal government it had negotiated with over the summer,” the New York Times reports.
“Brown was the second university to rebuff the government’s proposal of so-called compact, after M.I.T. did so last week. But Brown’s decision was likely to carry extraordinary weight in higher education because it had previously reached a settlement with the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding.”
The Brown Daily Herald’s article:
https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2025/10/brown-university-rejects-trump-administration-compact
Brown University President Paxson’s letter of reply to the Education Dept.
https://www.brown.edu/sites/default/files/brown-response-federal-compact-10-15-2025.pdf