The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has become the first university to publicly reject a Trump administration proposal that ties prioritized scientific funding to the president’s ideological agenda, setting up a high-profile clash between the White House and one of the nation’s leading research institutions.
Last week, the White House proposed a deal to nine universities, promising them competitive advantages from both the federal government and private donors in exchange for complying with President Donald Trump’s ideological priorities.
In an Oct. 10 letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, MIT President Sally Kornbluth, Ph.D., emphasized the university’s “core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”
Dubbed the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” the offer was delivered (PDF) at the beginning of the month with a request for feedback by Oct. 20. If universities were to sign the compact, they would agree to cap the amount of their student population that participate in student visa exchange programs at 15%, adhere by a strict definition of gender based only on biological processes, and freeze tuition for five years, among other stipulations.
MIT’s values “meet or exceed many standards outlined” in the compact, Kornbluth wrote, citing a roughly 10% cap on enrollment of international undergraduates as an example. She also underscored the nearly 88% of MIT’s last graduating class left without any school debt and the university’s free tuition policy for undergrads from families with a yearly income below $200,000.
However, the compact also includes “principles with which we disagree,” the MIT president wrote, “including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution.”
“We must hear facts and opinions we don’t like—and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree,” Kornbluth wrote.
MIT believes U.S. leadership in science and innovation relies on independent thought and open competition driven by excellence, according to Kornbluth.
“In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences,” she wrote. “Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”
In conclusion, Kornbluth pointed to the MIT-led initiative 80 years ago that prompted scientific collaboration between research universities and the federal government.
“We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation,” she said.
While MIT is the first university to publicly rebuff the proposal, the University of Texas has signaled its willingness to participate.
Several industry groups have spoken out against the deal, with the American Council of Learned Societies writing that the compact “undermines the long-standing independence of American academia.”
“It works against the best interests of colleges and universities and of every one of us who has benefited from the knowledge they produce,” the ACLS wrote in an Oct. 6 statement. “We call for its immediate rejection by all institutions of higher education.”
The compact is the latest in a slew of Trump administration attempts to strong-arm schools into complying with his conservative priorities, including months of research funding freezes and investigations into alleged civil rights violations.