The Trump administration is pressing colleges and universities to adopt a sweeping set of operating principles in exchange for preferential access to federal grants, according to documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

Outlined in a 10-point memo titled the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” the proposal sets wide-ranging requirements aimed at raising academic standards and reshaping campus culture. Schools that sign on would receive “multiple positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” according to a letter sent to university leaders.

“Our hope is that a lot of schools see that this is highly reasonable,” said May Mailman, senior advisor for special projects at the White House.

The compact directs institutions to freeze tuition for five years, cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15%, and mandate that applicants take standardized tests such as the SAT. It also calls for strict measures against grade inflation and prohibits the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions decisions.

Much of the memo focuses on campus politics, urging universities to promote a “vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus.” It bars staff from expressing political views on behalf of their institutions unless directly tied to university business.

The proposal also calls for governance changes to create more space for conservative viewpoints, including dismantling academic departments accused of “purposefully punish[ing], belittl[ing], and even spark[ing] violence against conservative ideas.”

“Institutions of higher education are free to develop models and values other than those” in the memo, the document states, though such schools would forgo the promised federal benefits.

Pushback from higher education leaders

Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,500 university presidents, sharply criticized the plan.

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“Who decides if the intellectual environment is vigorous and open-ended? This is not something the federal government should be involved in and adjudicating,” Mitchell told The Wall Street Journal. “The implications for free speech are horrifying.”

On Wednesday evening, the White House sent invitation letters to nine universities, including Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania, USC, MIT, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, Brown, and the University of Virginia. The letters said that signing the compact would demonstrate that “learning and equality are university priorities” while providing the government “assurance” of compliance with civil rights law and “pursuing federal priorities with vigor.”

Most of the institutions either declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries, as per the report.

Mailman said the schools were chosen because they are seen as “good actors".

“They have a president who is a reformer or a board that has really indicated they are committed to a higher-quality education,” she stressed.

Incentives and enforcement

While the administration does not plan to limit all federal funding to signatories, Mailman said those universities would receive priority for grants, as well as invitations to White House events and policy discussions.

The compact comes amid months of tension between the administration and universities over allegations of antisemitism and the use of diversity initiatives. Some schools, including Columbia and Brown, have reached multimillion-dollar agreements with the White House, while others, such as Harvard, remain in dispute.

If a university signs the compact and later violates its terms, it could be forced to return both federal funds and private contributions received during that year.

Tuition and accountability measures

Beyond campus politics, the agreement also targets the rising cost of higher education. Schools would be required to freeze tuition for five years, cut administrative expenses, and publish earnings data for graduates by academic program. Students who drop out within their first semester would be eligible for tuition refunds.

Universities with endowments exceeding $2 million per student would be expected to waive tuition for those studying “hard science” programs.

To ensure compliance, the compact requires institutions to hire an independent auditor who would conduct anonymous surveys of faculty, staff, and students. The results would reportedly be made public and reviewed by the Justice Department.