The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has turned down a proposal from the Trump administration that would have tied access to federal funding to a series of restrictive campus policies.
In a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, MIT President Sally Kornbluth said the proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” would undermine academic independence and free expression, values she described as central to the university’s mission.
“The compact includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution,” Kornbluth wrote. “Scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”
The proposal, circulated to several top universities including Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Texas, would require schools to cap foreign student admissions, restrict university leaders from commenting on political matters, and adopt a binary definition of gender.
It also called on universities to use standardized tests for most admissions, allow lawful force if necessary to prevent campus protests, and ensure conservative viewpoints could be expressed freely. Schools that violated any part of the agreement would be forced to return federal funds and private donations.
MIT, which already uses standardized tests and maintains an international enrollment of around 10 percent, said its existing policies reflect its own values, not political pressure. “We freely choose these values because they’re right,” Kornbluth wrote.
California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the federal plan, warning that any university in his state accepting the deal would immediately lose state funding. “California will not bankroll schools that sell out their students, professors, and researchers,” he said.
MIT and other major universities, including Harvard, have clashed repeatedly with the Trump administration over cuts to federal research funding. In February, MIT joined a lawsuit challenging reductions to health research grants.
The rejected compact marks another flashpoint in the broader debate over academic freedom and the politicization of higher education in the United States.
