The Massachusetts Institute of Technology rejected the Trump administration’s “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education” in a statement issued Oct. 10.
The compact, which was initially offered to nine universities but later extended to all higher education institutions, contains a series of demands for the universities to follow in order to receive preferential treatment on federal funding. UMass Boston has not released a statement regarding the offer or given any indication that it plans to do so.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth rejected the offer, releasing the letter she sent to Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
“Fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone,” Kornbluth wrote. “In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”
Some of the conditions outlined in the administration’s compact included banning consideration of race or sex in admissions, encouraging a “vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus,” and “transforming or abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”
The compact also limits admissions of undergraduate students on foreign visas to no more than 15% of the student population, with no more than 5% from one country. The administration claims the purpose of this initiative is to “screen out students who demonstrate hostility to the United States, its allies, or its values.” Under the compact, the Department of Homeland Security would also have the right to access all information about any foreign student at participating universities upon request.
In the fall of 2024, approximately 6% of new undergraduate students at UMass Boston were international students.
“Much of Higher Education has lost its way, and is now corrupting our Youth and Society with WOKE, SOCIALIST, and ANTI-AMERICAN Ideology that serves as justification for discriminatory practices by Universities that are Unconstitutional and Unlawful,” President Donald Trump wrote in an Oct. 12 post on Truth Social. “To those Universities that continue to illegally discriminate based on Race or Sex, we will continue our current efforts to swiftly and forcefully enforce Federal Law.”
Kornbluth highlighted the ways that MIT followed the Trump administration’s guidelines, such as protecting students’ freedom of speech and admitting students based on merit alone.
“We freely choose these values because they’re right, and we live by them because they support our mission — work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States,” she wrote. “And of course, MIT abides by the law.”
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions standards in a 2023 case against Harvard.
Although the offer was extended as a benefit, schools who do not follow it are subject to punishment. According to the compact, universities who violate the agreement will lose access to the compact’s benefits for one year; further violations will result in a loss of access lasting two years. Any money given to the university by the U.S. government during the year of the violation must be returned to the government.
The introduction of the compact has sparked debate about freedom of speech on college campuses and if this is an overreach from the Trump administration. “The compact will lead to ongoing federal oversight and control of MIT. The issue is not whether some ideas in the Compact are sensible, or could be adjusted to become so,” the MIT chapter of the American Association of University Professors wrote in a statement.
It wrote, “The issue is that, under our laws and Constitution and the American tradition of academic freedom, the executive branch cannot coerce independent institutions of higher learning to ‘align’ with the ideological orthodoxies of the moment.”
