US EditionMIT president says she 'cannot support' proposal to adopt Trump priorities for funding benefits
MIT declined the Trump administration's compact linking federal funding to hiring and admissions policies, emphasizing funding should be based solely on scientific merit, said President Sally Kornbluth.
- On October 10, 2025, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology rejected the Trump administration's Compact for Academic Excellence, as Sally Kornbluth announced in a Friday letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
- The Trump administration offered the 10-point package to nine universities, including MIT, sent Oct. 1, tying federal grant access to policies like SAT requirements and tuition freezes.
- MIT said the compact would restrict free expression, undermine independence, and is inconsistent with MIT's view that scientific funding should be based on merit, noting last year's $648 million in federal awards and potential $300 million cuts.
- Contrastingly, MIT has signed deals with the Trump administration while students rallied at MIT and more than 256 faculty petitioned rejection.
- The compact forms part of a broader Trump administration effort to shape U.S. higher education, reflecting executive orders from January 2025 targeting DEI and a White House vision on admissions, free speech and affordability.
144 Articles
144 Articles
MIT Becomes First School to Reject Trump’s “Loyalty Oath” for Higher Education
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday became the first university to reject President Donald Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which critics have called an “extortion” agreement for federal funding. MIT and eight other schools — the University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern… Source
Colleges must stand with MIT against Trump's funding deal
Yesterday the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) became the first university to reject the White House’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” — an agreement that would give signatories preferential treatment for government funding. MIT President Sally Kornbluth explained that certain provisions “would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution.” The other eight universities that recei…
Tulsa World
MIT president 'cannot support' Trump agenda
WASHINGTON — The president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Friday she "cannot support" a White House proposal that asks MIT and eight other universities to adopt President Donald Trump's political agenda in exchange for favorable access to federal…
The Trump administration wants to reward universities that represent their agenda. For this, it attracted many top universities in the country with state funds. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is now the first to respond to this.
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