New Trump plan offers UT funding benefits with conditions on academics

The Trump administration has named the University of Texas at Austin as one of nine schools eligible for federal funding advantages if it agrees to cap international student enrollment, recognize only two genders, freeze tuition for five years, and protect conservative speech under a new “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

If UT agrees to the terms, it would get priority access to research funding and looser rules on overhead costs, according to a letter and memo first reported Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.

UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said in a statement shared first with the American-Statesman on Thursday that the system is “honored” to be selected and is “enthusiastically” working with UT to review the demands.

“Higher education has been at a crossroads in recent years, and we have worked very closely with Governor Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Burrows to implement sweeping changes for the benefit of our students and to strengthen our institutions to best serve the people of Texas,” Eltife said. “Today we welcome the new opportunity presented to us and we look forward to working with the Trump Administration on it.”

The University of Texas, which spends more than $1 billion annually on research, lost more than $47 million in research funds earlier this year after the Trump administration enacted sweeping federal cuts, according to records obtained by the Statesman. The university also enrolled 1,504 fewer international students — a 1.7% drop — after the administration cut thousands of student visas, announced stricter vetting procedures and heightened concerns among applicants.

On Wednesday, the UT System announced a review of all gender identity courses, in line with other Texas university systems. The move comes after Texas A&M faced backlash over a professor’s discussion of gender identity in a children’s literature course. A student’s critique that the course was illegal for suggesting there are more than two genders went viral, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott, a close Trump ally, to call for action. Within two weeks, the professor, dean, department head and president all lost their jobs.

“If you’re in a state where there’s been firing of faculty for what they said without any due process, for example, which we just saw happen, this policy only throws gasoline on the fire,” David DeMatthews, a UT professor of education policy and leadership, said in an interview Thursday.

The memo contains “very problematic and arbitrary measures” that could be challenging for a university to implement, he said, such as disclosing disciplinary records on international students and ensuring ideological diversity, which could be difficult to measure. But the top research institutions that received the Trump offer rely on federal funds.

Brown University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, the University of Arizona and the University of Southern California also received letters with the 10-page compact attached. The New York Times reported the administration may eventually send the compact to all U.S. universities.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump administration have advocated for higher education reform, using federal funding as leverage to push schools such as Columbia University to comply with their demands. Harvard University, which has resisted Trump’s demands and faced steep financial challenges in doing so, is reportedly approaching a settlement with the administration.

The letter is a new strategy by the administration, approaching universities not punitively, but with clear administration priorities and an invitation to sign on for benefits, not a mandate, DeMatthews said. Although optional, if universities agree, he said, it could be “a pretty significant, symbolic indicator that American universities are weakened” and compromise an institution’s independence.

UT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In April, UT President Jim Davis acknowledged faculty concerns about declining federal research funding and vowed to work on contingency plans. UT’s new provost, William Inboden, a former professor who most recently directed a legislature-backed civics school at the University of Florida, wrote in a Sept. 22 article in National Affairs that higher education is enduring its “worst crisis” in more than a century and must repair its “ideological imbalance” to rebuild public trust. 

Texas lawmakers have passed higher education reform laws in the last two sessions that eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs, limited tenure, curbed faculty influence, more tightly regulated free speech on college campuses and expanded regent power, with some urging universities to go further in reducing perceived liberal bias.

Eltife, who has vowed to oversee enforcement of the new state laws and pushed for greater affordability, including free tuition for Texans from families earning under $100,000 starting this spring, said the system is looking forward to reviewing the compact and working with the Trump administration.

DeMatthews urges the university to be transparent about its decision making and risks associated with sacrificing some of its independence.

“Helping the public who helps fund the public universities in states, understand what’s being asked, what’s at stake, and having a transparent delivery deliberate practice is really important,” DeMatthews said. ” I would hope that any administrator, any institution, would recognize the importance of being transparent and open.”

This article was updated with more information.