Trump Administration's Higher Education Agenda Faces Resistance from Elite Universities

Strategic Insights -

The Trump administration's latest effort to overhaul higher education, a "compact" linking support for its policy changes with access to federal research funding, has been met with resistance from several elite universities. The administration's aggressive tactics, includingDescribingschools as "Marxist maniacs and lunatics," have alienated potential allies and complicated its ability to build broad alliances needed to carry out its agenda.

The compact was designed to be enticing, with the government spending roughly $60 billion annually on academic research. However, six of the nine schools originally solicited for feedback have declined the offer, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Virginia, and Dartmouth. Brown and Penn faced especially strong pressure on campus to draw the line with the White House following settlement agreements each signed in the summer that helped restore their frozen research funding.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Trump administration's compact linking support for policy changes with access to federal research funding has been rejected by six elite universities, including MIT, Brown, Penn, USC, UVA, and Dartmouth.
  • Brown and Penn faced strong pressure on campus to reject the compact due to prior settlement agreements with the administration.
  • The administration's aggressive tactics have alienated potential allies and complicated its ability to build broad alliances needed to carry out its agenda.
  • The University of Texas is the sole system to react enthusiastically to the compact.
  • Arizona State University, the University of Kansas, and Washington University in St. Louis have expressed interest in joining the compact, but their participation is uncertain.
  • The administration's ban on hundreds of library books at the U.S. Naval Academy has forced some potential allies to reconsider working with the administration.
  • The compact's vagueness and potential consequences have made it impossible for some universities to support in its original form.

Statistics:

  • The government spends roughly $60 billion annually on academic research.
  • Six elite universities have declined the offer to participate in the compact.
  • Brown and Penn faced especially strong pressure on campus to draw the line with the White House following settlement agreements.
  • The administration's ban on hundreds of library books has affected the U.S. Naval Academy.

Sources:

  • The New York Times: "Trump Administration's Higher Education Agenda Faces Resistance from Elite Universities"
  • "Agreement on the Compact Proposed by the White House"
  • "Defense Department spokesman"
  • "Alan M. Garber, president of Harvard University"