Trump unveils sweeping new plan for US higher education
Image: Manoo Sirivelu
On Wednesday, the White House sent letters to nine of the top private and public universities in the US, asking them to commit to supporting a list of President Trump’s priorities in exchange for more favorable access to federal money and other terms.
The letters—sent to Arizona, Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Texas, UPenn, USC, Vanderbilt, and Virginia—represent the most comprehensive presentation to date of what Trump aims to achieve with his monthslong pressure campaign on higher education.
What’s in the letters?
The Trump admin laid out a wide-ranging set of terms which they say are intended to boost the universities’ standards and performance. Under the Trump-proposed deal, schools must:
- Freeze tuition for US students for five years, with wealthier campuses required to eliminate tuition for students pursuing "hard science programs.”
- Cap international enrollment at 15% of a college’s undergrad student body, with no more than 5% of the student body coming from a single foreign country.
- Institute policies "transforming or abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas."
- Require applicants to take the SAT, ACT, or other similar entry exams.
- Share all known information about foreign students with both the State and Homeland Security Departments upon request.
In exchange for agreeing to those terms, the White House said schools would get “multiple positive benefits” like priority access to federal funds, looser restraints on overhead costs, and an assurance of compliance with civil rights laws.
Federal civil rights investigations have been used by the Trump admin to halt research funding to several universities this year, including five of the eight Ivy League schools.
Trump’s move prompted some concern
Several academic leaders pushed back against the White House proposal, saying the points regarding political expression and views are particularly troubling.
- “This is not something the federal government should be involved in and adjudicating…The implications for free speech are horrifying,” said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said local schools—like USC, which received a letter—can expect to lose state funding if they accept Trump’s proposal to “sign away academic freedom.”
Looking ahead…Senior White House officials say Trump’s higher-education agreement could ultimately be extended to all colleges and universities.
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Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that it’s not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject Trump’s latest demands this week, with the only solution to this effort at federal control over higher education being solidarity and collective action.
- Others contend that Trump and his allies are using alleged civil rights violations as an excuse to remake universities in the way they like, because they think schools are admitting the wrong people, educating them in the wrong way, and using their influence in society in ways that are detrimental to the goals of the Trump admin.
- “Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion” –Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley’s law school
- “Universities Have Woken Up to Find They’re in Bed With an Ogre” –David LeonhardtBinyamin Appelbaum and Emily Bazelon, NY Times
- “Colorado’s colleges and universities need collective action to fight Trump administration policies” –Aaron Schneider and Steve Mumme, The Colorado Sun
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that university professors and leadership should do a good bit of self-examination, repentance, and/or acceptance of some need to mend their ways, with public discontent at the cost and cultural arrogance of higher education reaching a boiling point.
- Others contend that in its conflict with elite universities, the Trump administration’s urge to “move fast and break things” threatens to blow the first real chance for substantive higher education reform in decades, which is much needed after decades of left-wing intolerance made universities incapable of protecting basic principles of free inquiry.
- “Universities lament Trump’s attacks. How about doing some atoning, too?” –Mitch Daniels, WaPo
- “Trump Is Right to Target Colleges. He’s Doing It the Completely Wrong Way.” –Neetu Arnold, The Manhattan Institute
- “The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Crackdown on Academia” –Ross Douthat, NY Times
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