What to know about President Donald Trump’s higher education compact
This effort includes recruiting universities and colleges to join a compact promising preferential funding for ideology-focused policy agreements.
In his second term, the Trump administration has sought to corral a higher education system it considers to be ideologically liberal and discriminatory. This effort includes recruiting universities and colleges to join a compact promising preferential funding for ideology-focused policy agreements.
IndyStar reached out to 20 Indiana colleges — seven public institutions and 13 private, educating nearly half a million students — asking whether their administration has any interest in joining the compact. They were largely unresponsive or noncommittal to the idea.
When asked if the state would offer any guidance or hold any conversations regarding the compact, Secretary of Education spokesperson Courtney Bearsch said any participation in the compact would be determined by each institution. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is a coordinating body, not a governing one, she said.
The Trump administration initially asked nine universities (none in Indiana) to join the compact. After a Truth Social post on Oct. 12, all universities and colleges were invited to join “to help bring about the Golden Age of Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
The compact would require institutions to limit international student enrollment, freeze tuition for five years, ban consideration of race or sex in admissions and hiring, establish an institutional neutrality statement, commit to more restrictive protest and free speech policies, and close departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.” A bevy of consequences is listed for violators.
So far, few universities have publicly expressed their interest or intent to join the compact. The majority are staying quiet, providing feedback or outright rejecting the idea.
Academic freedom advocacy and several First Amendment organizations have lambasted the compact’s demands. This month, Indiana University’s Bloomington Faculty Council passed a resolution opposing the compact, calling it “inconsistent and unenforceable.”
Mum from IU, Purdue, Ball State
Indiana University: No response
Purdue University: No response
Ball State University: No response
Indiana State, Southern Indiana, Ivy Tech chime in
Indiana State University: “We are still reviewing the content of the compact language. Because of that, we have no comments at this time.”
University of Southern Indiana: “The University does not intend to join at this time.”
Ivy Tech Community College: “We have not reviewed this.”
Vincennes University: No response
Largely no response from private institutions
University of Notre Dame: No response
Butler University: “We are going to decline comment for this story.”
Wabash College: “President Feller would rather not comment since Wabash has not received any official communications from the Department of Education.”
DePauw University: No response
University of Indianapolis: No response
Valparaiso University: No response
Marian University: No response
Franklin College: No response
Trine University: No response
Indiana Wesleyan University: No response
Hanover College: No response
Taylor University: No response
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology: No response
The USA TODAY Network – Indiana’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
Have a story to tell? Reach Cate Charron by email at ccharron@indystar.com, on X at @CateCharron or Signal at @cate.charron.28.