Higher Ed Responds to the Trump Compact
By the Community College and Higher Education Leadership Program Faculty
On Oct. 1, the Trump administration shared the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” with nine high-profile research universities, offering access to significant funding opportunities provided they agree with the conditions of the compact and sign on as a partner. About two weeks later with the Oct. 20 deadline looming, the same compact was made available to all postsecondary institutions in the United States. The compact, which requires adherence to the administration’s ideological positions on topics such as sex and gender, immigration, racial and ethnic diversity, and standardized testing, and gives preferential treatment to institutions that agree to the terms of the compact. The compact states this will be a “return to meritocracy,” which we feel is antithetical to the preferential status that might be given to institutions which sign on.
Many higher education institutions and professional organizations have offered responses to the compact, and as faculty who study U.S. higher education, we believe it is important to share brief summaries on what is being communicated about this compact to raise awareness about the potential impact for higher education.
Northern Arizona University Faculty Senate – The Faculty Senate of NAU approved a resolution advising against the institution signing the compact. Additionally, the resolution illustrates that the compact itself is unnecessary as the university already supports and serves students regardless of identity. The senate also stresses that aligning with the compact would be to embrace a single ideological framing for education and would discourage the exchange of different perspectives.
University of Arizona Faculty Senate – The University of Arizona Faculty senate passed a resolution opposing the compact, stating it featured “provisions which endanger the independence, excellence, and integrity of the University of Arizona and infringe on the constitutional rights of members of the University of Arizona community.” The Senate also called for the university president to reject the compact and any future proposals with similar intentions. University of Arizona leadership declined signing the compact and responded by sharing a Statement of Principles.
AAC&U – The AAC&U rejects the Trump Administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence,” calling it coercive and a threat to academic freedom and institutional autonomy. The AAC&U supports reform through legitimate means but warns the compact undermines higher education’s role in democracy, innovation, and independent governance.
AAUP – The AAUP condemns the Trump Administration’s proposed “loyalty oath” compacts as corrupt coercion, threatening academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and viewpoint diversity. Leaders of the AAUP call on all universities to refuse them and defend higher education’s independence and integrity.
MIT – The first university to respond to the compact, MIT declined the Department of Education’s compact, citing concerns over restrictions to free expression and institutional autonomy, and reaffirming that MIT already meets or exceeds many of the document’s values through merit-based, independent practices, and acknowledgement of merit.
These summaries are just a small representation of the responses to the compact. As the Trump administration continues to govern through executive order, we encourage all those who value higher education, who hope to attend or send their families to college, and who care about their local communities and economies, to consider the impact of the compact on the lives and opportunities of all who pursue growth through education.