Trump Opens Up Compact to All of Higher Ed. Now What?

""Our Nation's Great Institutions will once again prioritize Merit and Hard Work before 'group identity,' resulting in tremendous new Research and Opportunity to benefit all Americans, and Equality being honored in American Businesses, Courts, and Culture," he wrote. Then he laid out the stark choice he believes America's colleges and universities must make. They can "continue to illegally discriminate based on Race or Sex," he wrote."

"Or, those that prefer to "return to the pursuit of Truth and Achievement" are "invited to enter into a forward looking Agreement with the Federal Government to help bring about the Golden Age of Academic Excellence in Higher Education.""

"The post came a few days after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology publicly declined to sign on to the administration's 10-page compact, which was sent to nine universities earlier this month and spurred widespread condemnation. Under the agreement, institutions would have to make sweeping changes or risk their federal funding."

""The administration is reading the writing on the wall that they wouldn't be able to run the table on the nine and that there would be substantial pushback," said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education. "And they didn't want to own that, so they looked for more buyers.""

President Trump posted on Truth Social that higher education has lost its way and promoted his administration's efforts to correct it. He said institutions should prioritize merit and hard work over group identity and promised research, opportunity, and equality honored across business, courts, and culture. He offered colleges a choice: continue practices he called illegal discrimination by race or sex, or enter a federal agreement to pursue truth, achievement, and a purported Golden Age of academic excellence. MIT publicly declined to sign the administration's 10-page compact, and eight other universities have until Oct. 20 to respond. Experts predicted broader outreach and noted pushback.

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