USC Expresses Concerns Over Trump administration’s Higher Education Compact
The โUniversity of Southern California has formally communicated โconcerns โคto Education Secretary Linda McMahon regarding aโ proposed compact offered by the Trump administration, according toโ a letter โฃprovided to The Times.โ While acknowledgingโข agreement with the compact’s โstated goal โof fostering a “vibrant marketplace of ideas,” USCโ President Carol Folt raised significantโ reservationsโ about potential impacts on academic freedom adn research integrity.
The โฃcompact,presented to โUSC on October 1st,would tie access to prioritized federal research grants and funding to universities adopting policies aligned with the โคformer president’s political agenda. Theseโ stipulations โinclude adhering to aโข binary definition of gender, restricting recognition of transgender identities, limiting foreign student enrollment, and implementing a five-year tuition freeze โfor U.S. students. the compact also proposes reinstatingโ standardized testing requirements (SAT/ACT) for all applicants and eliminating considerations ofโฃ race, sex, and otherโ demographic factors โขin admissions.
President Folt’s letter emphasized concern that even the voluntary โ nature of โthe compact, coupled with the incentive of researchโค funding, could “undermine the same values of freeโข inquiry and academic excellence that the Compact seeks โขto promote.” Sheโค warnedโ that prioritizing external political agendas โฃcould “tilt the research playing field away from โfree, โmeritocratic competition,” drawing โparallels to restrictions on academic freedom inโข countries lacking America’sโ commitment to democratic principles.
USC affirmed it’s โคcommitment to “institutional neutrality” and ongoing initiatives to โคpromote civilโ discourse across the ideological spectrum, stating that a free exchange of ideas is essential โforโฃ outstanding research, critical thinking,โ and โthe growth of civic values.
The compact has already faced rejection fromโค other institutions, including MIT and Brown University, and has sparked controversy within California. Governor Gavin Newsom publicly urged USC to rejectโ the offer, even threatening to withhold state โfundingโฃ fromโค any California university that โคaccepts its terms.
The USC Academic Senate โalso voiced strong opposition to the compactโข during a meeting on October 6th, with over 20 faculty โขmembers and administrators describingโค it as “egregiously invalid,” “probably unconstitutional,” “antithetical toโฃ principles of academic freedom,” and “a Trojan horse.”