Overview

• President Sally Kornbluth informed Education Secretary Linda McMahon that MIT will not support the compact, citing scientific funding that should be based on merit and concerns over institutional independence and free expression.
• The Department of Education sent the Compact for Academic Excellence to nine universities, offering favored access to federal funds tied to compliance with a 10‑point policy package.
• Reported provisions include a multi‑year tuition freeze for U.S. students, caps on international enrollment, restrictions on gender definitions, limits on considering race or sex in admissions, and rules against content that could belittle conservative ideas.
• White House spokeswoman Liz Huston criticized refusals, saying universities that decline the proposal are serving bureaucrats rather than students and parents.
• Other invitees include Brown, Penn, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, USC, Virginia, Arizona, and Texas, with Texas signaling interest as faculty groups such as the AAUP urge universities to reject what they call a loyalty oath; reports say noncompliance could jeopardize federal grants.