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Topline
Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., said Thursday that California will cut funding for California schools that comply with the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” an agreement providing colleges with funding benefits if they agree to make policy changes in line with President Donald Trump’s education agenda.
Newsom published the statement Thursday afternoon. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
The compact was sent to some of the top public and private schools in the U.S. on Wednesday, according to The New York Times, demanding the institutions freeze tuition for five years, cap international student enrollment and “commit to strict definitions of gender.”
The compact also demands universities stop grade inflation, bring back the SAT requirement for applicants and ban the use of race and sex when making hirings and admissions decisions, The Wall Street Journal reported, noting another demand that asks schools to make changes and remove departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”
“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 says.
Newsom said in a statement the agreement is “nothing short of a hostile takeover of America’s universities” that “even dictates how schools must spend their own endowments.”
Newsom threatened to pull state funding, including need-based grants for California residents known as Cal Grants, from state schools that “SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.”
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What Schools Received The Compact?
The University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia were sent letters, according to the Journal and the Times, meaning USC is the only California school Newsom’s statement applies to unless more compact offers are sent out.
How Much Money Is On The Line For Usc?
USC received $1.35 billion in federal funding in the 2024 fiscal year. While the private university does not receive state funding in the same way public California schools do, its in-state students can still receive Cal Grants, which can cover up to $11,000 per year for certain students.
Key Background
The Trump administration has clamped down on several universities following a wave of on-campus pro-Palestinian protests last year, leading the Department of Education to investigate dozens of schools over antisemitism allegations. Federal funding for the universities has been targeted over the allegations, with the Trump administration eventually reaching multimillion-dollar settlements with the likes of Columbia University and Brown University, which also agreed to differing lists of demands from Trump. The president said Tuesday that Harvard will pay $500 million to settle multiple disputes with his administration, weeks after the university sued over a $2.6 billion funding freeze and an attempt to ban international student enrollment.
Further Reading
Harvard May Settle Government Dispute For $500 Million, Trump Says (Forbes)
Columbia Agrees To Trump Administration’s Demands After Losing $400 Million In Federal Funds (Forbes)
Trump Pursues Record $1 Billion Settlement From UCLA Over Antisemitism Claims (Forbes)
