More US universities join MIT in rejecting Trump’s preferential college funding plan

WASHINGTON – The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and University of Southern California (USC) each declined on Oct 16 to join the Trump administration’s proposal that

links federal funding to restrictions on hiring

, admissions and tuition.

USC interim president Kim Beong-soo said in a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon that the Los Angeles-based university shared many of the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’s goals.

But he worried that its conditions could “undermine the same values of free inquiry and academic excellence that the compact seeks to promote”.

“Although USC respectfully declines to participate in the proposed compact, the issues and aspirations raised by it are worthy of a broader national conversation to which USC would be eager to contribute,” Mr Kim said.

Earlier in the day, Penn president Larry Jameson said in a statement that the school “respectfully declines to sign the proposed compact” and that he notified the US Department of Education of the decision.

He added that Penn also “provided focused feedback highlighting areas of existing alignment as well as substantive concerns”.

USC and Penn join the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and

Brown University in rejecting the administration’s offer,

made earlier in October.

The White House invited nine universities to sign the compact, which officials describe as an effort to restore “merit-based” standards in higher education.

The plan would cap international students, ban the use of race or sex in hiring, freeze tuition rates for the next five years and require standardised testing in the admissions process in exchange for preferential access to federal funds.

Unlike MIT and Brown, which rejected the compact in any form, it was not clear whether USC and Penn were open to signing a revised version.

The White House plans to incorporate feedback into an updated draft to send to interested colleges, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named in order to discuss details of the administration’s process.

When asked about Penn’s decision, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in an e-mail that “merit should be the primary criteria for federal grant funding”.

Any college unwilling to accept the administration’s reforms “will find itself without future government and taxpayers support”, Ms Huston said.

The five universities that have yet to formally respond to the administration’s invitation include the University of Virginia (UVA), University of Texas at Austin, University of Arizona, Vanderbilt University and Dartmouth College. 

Of those, only Texas has appeared receptive.

Mr Kevin Eltife, chair of the university’s system board of regents, wrote that they were “honoured” that their flagship in Austin was “selected by the Trump administration for potential funding advantages”.

UVA and Dartmouth, meanwhile, have signalled that they are unlikely to agree to the deal in its current form. The White House earlier this week welcomed all colleges and universities to participate.

Penn’s decision carries added weight because of its ties to Apollo Global Management co-founder Marc Rowan, a major donor and chair of the Wharton School’s Board of Advisers, who has said he helped shape the compact.

A potential divergence with one of its largest donors over the compact could be consequential for the Ivy League university.

Mr Rowan was considered for treasury secretary at the start of the Trump administration, and he is reportedly still a confidant of administration officials. 

In 2023, Mr Rowan was instrumental in ousting former Penn president Liz Magill and Board of Trustees chair Scott Bok after Professor Magill’s widely criticised congressional testimony on campus anti-Semitism.

In the wake of that change, Mr Rowan circulated a list of proposed campus reforms that closely mirror elements of the Trump compact. BLOOMBERG