Key Takeaways for Colleges and Universities

On Wednesday, October 1, 2025, the White House sent letters to nine institutions of higher education inviting them to sign onto a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” The administration requested feedback on the Compact by October 20, 2025. With that deadline now passed, this alert reviews the key provisions of the proposed Compact and summarizes how the higher education sector has responded thus far.

Key Provisions of the Compact

The Compact offers preferential consideration for certain federal funding and benefits in exchange for institutions’ compliance with a specific set of policy requirements. Some of these policies are already required by law, while others introduce new obligations for signatory institutions. These requirements are summarized below:

1. Equality in Admissions

• Except for institutions for a specific sex or religious denomination, signatories agree to not consider sex, ethnicity, race, nationality, political views, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or proxies in admissions or financial support decisions.
• Signatories must publish objective admissions criteria on institutional websites for applicants and the public.
• Signatories must require all undergraduate applicants to take a “widely-used standardized test” (e.g., SAT, ACT).
• Signatories must report anonymized applicant data (including GPA and test scores) by race, national origin, and sex.

2. Marketplace of Ideas and Civil Discourse

• Signatories will foster a campus environment with a “broad spectrum of ideological viewpoints and no single ideology dominant.”
• Signatories will revise governance structures, including “transforming or abolishing institutional units that punish, belittle, or spark violence against conservative ideas.”
• Signatories must adopt policies protecting academic freedom and recognize that “academic freedom is not absolute.”
• Signatories commit to using lawful force to maintain order and prevent disruptions to classes, study areas, or access based on protected characteristics.
• Signatories will adopt policies “prohibiting incitement to violence, including calls for murder or genocide, or support for entities designated by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations”
• Signatories will take steps to prevent heckling, harassment, or obstruction based on students’ race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.
• Signatories pledge to “vigorously enforce” policies and rights with respect to free speech and expression.

3. Nondiscrimination in Faculty and Administrative Hiring

• Signatories commit to meritocratic, objective, and measurable criteria for faculty and staff hiring, advancement, and reappointment.
• Signatories must not consider sex, ethnicity, race, national origin, disability, or religion in employment decisions, except as permitted by law and anti-discrimination statutes.

4. Institutional Neutrality

• Signatories will “maintain institutional neutrality” on societal and political issues at all levels of the university.
• Signatories will require employees acting in an official capacity to “abstain from actions or speech relating to social and political events” unless such events directly impact the university.
• Signatories will apply neutrality policies consistently across departments, colleges, centers, and institutes.

5. Student Learning

• Signatories “commit to grade integrity” by prohibiting inflation or deflation of grades for non-academic reasons.
• Signatories will “use public accountability mechanisms” to demonstrate commitment to grade integrity.

6. Student Equality

• Signatories will treat students as individuals, not based on immutable characteristics, “with exceptions for sex-based privacy, safety, and fairness.”
• Signatories will define and interpret the terms male, female, woman, and man “according to reproductive function and biological process.”
• Signatories will prohibit unequal treatment in grading, access to buildings, scholarships, and university resources.
• Signatories will maintain clear and consistent disciplinary standards for all students, faculty, and staff.

7. Financial Responsibility

• Signatories must freeze tuition rates for American students for the next five years.
• Signatories will publicly post average earnings statistics for graduates in each academic program.
• Signatories will refund tuition to undergraduates who drop out during their first academic term.
• Signatories with endowments over $2 million per undergraduate must waive tuition for “admitted students pursing hard science programs.”
• Signatories must accept full transfer credits from the Joint Service Transcript for military service members and veterans.

8. Foreign Entanglements

• Signatories must maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) programs and other applicable laws, including Section 117 of the Higher Education Act.
• Signatories will cap international student enrollment to no more than 15% of undergraduate population, and no more than 5% from any one country.
• Signatories will select foreign students “on the basis of demonstrably extraordinary talent . . . and screen out students who demonstrate hostility to the United States, it allies, or its values.”
• Signatories will provide all known information about foreign students (including discipline records) upon request to the Departments of Homeland Security and State.
• Signatories will disclose all direct and indirect funding from any foreign institutions and individuals.

Enforcement of the Compact’s requirements would be overseen by the Department of Justice. Institutions found in violation could face significant fiscal penalties, including clawbacks of federal and private funds associated with the Compact.

Recent Developments and Criticism 

Of the nine universities initially approached, none have thus far agreed to sign the Compact, citing concerns related to academic freedom, institutional independence, and the principle that research funding should be based on merit rather than compliance with federal policy priorities.[1]

In response to criticisms, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and other federal officials have met with university leaders and indicated that the Compact may be subject to revision. At the same time, the administration has stated that any institution may choose to sign the agreement in its current form.

Observers have identified several issues that may require careful consideration by institutions. One significant area of concern is the potential for increased federal involvement in university governance and decision-making. Higher education organizations and legal experts have noted that such involvement could affect long-standing principles of institutional autonomy.

Additionally, the Compact does not specify the statutory authority under which the federal government would grant preferential access to funding programs or limit access for institutions that do not participate. Critics have also raised concerns about the vagueness of certain requirements, which may make compliance assessments difficult and increase the risk of enforcement action. Enforcement mechanisms such as financial penalties and fund clawbacks may raise questions about due process and protections under existing federal law, as well as potential liability under the False Claims Act for institutions found to be in non-compliance.

Where Does Higher Education Go From Here?

It remains uncertain whether any institutions will sign onto the Compact as currently drafted. In the meantime, all institutions of higher education are advised to review the Compact’s key provisions and assess whether their current policies or programs may need to be revised to ensure compliance with existing federal and state law, or to mitigate the risk of federal enforcement actions. Institutions should work with legal counsel to develop actionable next steps appropriate for their unique campus environment, policies, practices, and applicable law.

If your institution has questions about the Compact, its implications, or seeks assistance with a legally privileged policy review or audit, please contact your Hunton Higher Education attorney.

[1] After President Trump, in a social media message, extended the invitation to sign the Compact to any U.S. university, the New College of Florida issued a press release indicating that “[w]hen the President asks” for its signature, they will be “first in line.”