California Governor Gavin Newsom has warned that any California university signing onto President Donald Trump’s new university compact will face immediate state funding cuts. Newsom’s statement on Thursday emphasized that universities agreeing to the compact would lose billions in state funding, including Cal Grants. He declared, “California will not bankroll schools that sell out their students, professors, researchers, and surrender academic freedom.”
The compact, titled the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” was introduced by President Trump and sent to nine universities, including the University of Southern California (USC). The Trump administration plans to extend the offer to more institutions in the future. The compact offers priority access to federal funding for universities that agree to adopt certain conservative policies. These policies include changes to admissions and hiring practices, exclusion of transgender women from women’s sports, and a cap on international student enrollment at 15 percent.
Newsweek reports that the compact is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reshape higher education by tying federal funding to conservative priorities. While the administration argues that the compact will promote free speech and protect conservative viewpoints, critics, including faculty at USC, view it as a threat to academic freedom.
According to The Hill, Newsom’s response underscores a growing battle over the future of higher education in the United States, as both state and federal leaders use financial leverage to enforce competing visions of academic freedom and campus governance.
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