All but 2 Universities Decline a Trump Offer of Preferential Funding

Seven of the nine universities that the White House initially approached about a plan to steer more federal money toward schools aligned with President Trump’s priorities have refused to endorse the proposal.

On Monday evening, an eighth signaled that it had reservations about it.

Only one, the University of Texas, suggested it might be open to signing on quickly.

The University of Arizona rejected the Trump administration’s compact on Monday, joining Brown University, Dartmouth College, M.I.T., the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California and the University of Virginia.

Vanderbilt University did not directly express a view about the plan on Monday — the deadline the Trump administration initially gave universities for feedback — but its chancellor suggested misgivings about parts of it.

The compact, which administration officials depicted this month as “largely in its final form” even as they asked for feedback, includes conditions like agreeing “that academic freedom is not absolute” and pledging to potentially shut down “institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”

Although the Trump administration floated the possibility of greater federal funding for schools that endorsed the plan, one university after another said they could not accept the terms.

“Principles like academic freedom, merit-based research funding and institutional independence are foundational and must be preserved,” the University of Arizona’s president, Suresh Garimella, wrote in an open letter on Monday, though he added that some of the White House’s ideas “deserve thoughtful consideration.”

Vanderbilt’s chancellor, Daniel Diermeier, stopped short of rejecting the proposal and said that the school would share more feedback with the government about the future of higher education. But Dr. Diermeier signaled that Vanderbilt had concerns about the draft the White House circulated this month.

“Our North Star has always been that academic freedom, free expression and independence are essential for universities to make their vital and singular contributions to society,” Dr. Diermeier wrote in an open letter. “We also believe that research awards should be made based on merit alone. This merit-based approach has enabled the scholarly and scientific excellence that has driven American health, security and prosperity for decades. It must be preserved.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Although the administration has sometimes taken a conciliatory approach toward schools weighing the compact, developed in part by the billionaire financier Marc Rowan, the White House has also warned of potential consequences.

“Any higher education institution unwilling to assume accountability and confront these overdue and necessary reforms will find itself without future government and taxpayers support,” Liz Huston, a White House spokeswoman, said last week after Penn refused to sign.