{"id":15570,"date":"2025-10-10T16:45:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/10\/mit-is-1st-school-to-reject-trump-administrations-agenda-in-exchange-for-funding-benefits\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T16:45:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:45:43","slug":"mit-is-1st-school-to-reject-trump-administrations-agenda-in-exchange-for-funding-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/10\/mit-is-1st-school-to-reject-trump-administrations-agenda-in-exchange-for-funding-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"MIT is 1st school to reject Trump administration’s agenda in exchange for funding benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday became the first school to reject an offer of federal funds in exchange for agreeing to the Trump administration's education agenda.<\/p>\n

MIT disagreed with a number of aspects of the administration's proposal, which was sent to nine major universities last week, arguing that it would restrict the university's freedom of expression and independence, Sally Kornbluth, president of the Cambridge-based school, wrote in a letter Friday to the Department of Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our view, America\u2019s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences,\u201d Kornbluth wrote. \u201cTherefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to NBC News\u2019 request for comment. <\/p>\n

The compact asked the nine schools to agree to a set of conditions such as barring transgender people from using restrooms or playing in sports that align with their gender identities and capping international undergraduate student enrollment. <\/p>\n

\u201cSignatories pledge to select those foreign students on the basis of demonstrably extraordinary talent, rather than on the basis of financial advantage to the university; to screen out students who demonstrate hostility to the United States, its allies, or its values; and to provide instruction in American civics to all foreign students,\u201d the memo about the compact said.<\/p>\n

Signers would be required to freeze tuition rates charged to American students for the next five years, among other conditions, according to the memo. In return, the schools would be given a \u201ccompetitive advantage,\u201d including priority for grants and invitations to White House events and discussions with officials, a White House official said in a statement. <\/p>\n

In her letter, Kornbluth wrote that MIT \u201cmeets or exceeds\u201d many of the standards in the compact. She wrote that the university already rewards merit and practices need-blind admissions in which those with fewer financial resources are not disadvantaged in the admissions process. The school also values freedom of expression, Kornbluth wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe must hear facts and opinions we don\u2019t like \u2014 and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree,\u201d she acknowledged, but adding that the school does not align with all aspects of the proposal. <\/p>\n

\u201cFundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Most of the nine schools \u2014 including Vanderbilt University, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia \u2014 are currently still reviewing the compact. Among them, the University of Texas appeared to respond positively to the proposal. <\/p>\n

\u201cToday we welcome the new opportunity presented to us and we look forward to working with the Trump Administration on it,\u201d Kevin P. Eltife, U.T. System Board of Regents Chairman, said in a statement last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oct. 10, 2025, 12:45 PM EDTThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday became the first school to reject an offer of federal funds in exchange for agreeing to the Trump administration's education agenda.
\nMIT disagreed with a number of aspects of the administration's proposal, which was sent to nine major universities last week, arguing that it would restrict the university's freedom of expression and independence, Sally Kornbluth, president of the Cambridge-based school, wrote in a letter Friday to the Department of Education.
\n\u201cIn our view, America\u2019s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences,\u201d Kornbluth wrote. \u201cTherefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.\u201d
\nThe Department of Education did not immediately respond to NBC News\u2019 r..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,28,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-technology","category-tie-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skybeaconnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}