Trump administration drops controversial university compact, but pressure on campuses persists

The White House has withdrawn the proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence,” a plan that tied federal grant eligibility to adherence to Trump-aligned policies, yet the administration continues to seek influence over higher-education institutions.

After months of pushback, the Trump administration has scrapped its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” a scheme that promised privileged federal grant treatment to institutions that accepted a list of Trump-favored rules covering admissions, speech, and foreign student limits. The initiative, originally aimed at nine schools, drew almost universal condemnation, with the University of Texas the sole outlier offering any support.

In a recent open letter, Education Secretary Linda McMahon urged every university to post a public commitment to reforms on topics like admissions and intellectual pluralism, though she did not outline concrete sanctions for refusal. Meanwhile, the administration continues to wield other tactics—such as threatening visa caps, imposing hefty fines on Harvard and UCLA, and increasing taxes on large endowments—to pressure compliance.

Legal challenges have already emerged, exemplified by Harvard’s lawsuit over threatened aid cuts. Analysts warn that the withdrawal of the compact does not signal an end to the broader campaign to reshape American academia.