By Kritika Agarwal
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the White House invited Arizona State University, the University of Kansas, and Washington University in St. Louis, along with Dartmouth, the University of Arizona, the University of Texas, the University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University to come to a meeting on October 17 to “gather input and feedback” on the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
The compact, which the administration first proposed to universities on October 1, lays out a list of conditions universities could agree to in return for as-yet-unknown benefits or preferential treatment. While the compact did not explicitly say so, the cover letter accompanying it suggested that universities failing to sign it could risk losing unspecified federal funding and benefits. The compact was sent initially to nine universities, all AAU members.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “the [Oct. 17] meeting was pitched as an opportunity” for universities that initially received the compact to ask questions about it, to “refine some of the language in it,” and to “find common ground with the schools.” Following the meeting, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on X that she was “grateful to the university presidents who joined White House and agency officials for a positive and wide-ranging conversation” about the compact.
“American universities power our economy, drive innovation, and prepare young people for rewarding careers and fulfilling lives. With continued federal investment and strong institutional leadership, the higher education sector can do more to enhance American leadership in the world and build tomorrow’s workforce. Today’s conversation with national higher education leaders is an important step toward defining a shared vision, and we look forward to continued discussions in the weeks ahead,” she added.
The University of Arizona noted that it received clarification during the call with the White House that the administration is now seeking “constructive dialogue rather than a definitive written response” to the compact. Following the meeting, Washington University in St. Louis Chancellor Andrew Martin said that, while the university has not signed the compact, it has accepted an invitation by the administration “to participate in a conversation about the future of higher education.” Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier also said that the university intends to “provide feedback and comments as part of an ongoing dialogue.”
Thus far, seven of the nine universities that had initially received the compact have declined to join it. Brown University, Dartmouth, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, and the University of Virginia have all written to the administration providing feedback on the compact and explaining their reasons for not joining it. After initially sending it to nine schools, the Trump administration later invited all U.S. colleges and universities to sign the compact. Thus far, no institution has signed it.
On October 10, AAU President Barbara R. Snyder released a statement noting that AAU and our members are already deeply supportive of many of the compact’s principles and acknowledged that our universities, like others, understand the need for self-examination: “[W]e recognize and embrace the need for reflection, critical review, and continuous improvement,” she said. She added: “Research universities are neither static nor complacent. They have always adapted and will continue to change in response to advancements in knowledge, technological innovations, and evolving social conditions and expectations. Our universities have a responsibility to continue to find new ways to serve the country, its people, and the communities and states in which they reside.”
But President Snyder also noted that AAU has “significant concerns … about any compact or policy that could damage, compromise, or depart from our nation’s competitive, merit-based system of research grant funding. That system has been the foundation for American leadership in science and innovation for decades.”
She concluded by asserting that, while America’s leading research universities “cannot compromise the foundational principles that have made – and will continue to make – American higher education the envy of the world, we would welcome the opportunity to work with the administration to reimagine the important partnership between the federal government and research universities.”
Kritika Agarwal is assistant vice president for communications at AAU.