UT Austin is one of two universities that has not publicly rejected the compact sent by the White House earlier this month.
The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education asks universities to follow 10 points aligned with the Trump administration in exchange for better access to federal funding. The deadline for university officials to submit comments or feedback was Monday, Oct. 20.
Before that deadline, seven out of the nine universities presented with the compact publicly rejected the offer. Vanderbilt University is the other school that has not publicly said whether it will accept or reject the offer.
When the compact was first sent to universities, UT System officials said they were “honored” to be selected for potential funding advantages and “enthusiastically” looked forward to reviewing the document. A UT Austin spokesperson said Monday there were no updates on the matter.
It is also unclear whether Vanderbilt University will sign the compact. In an email sent to the community on Monday, the university’s chancellor, Daniel Diermeier, said the university intended to provide feedback to the White House but did not say if it would accept or reject the offer.
Earlier this month, President Trump said other universities, beyond the initial nine, were invited to sign the agreement in a post on Truth Social.
Among other things, the compact asks universities to ensure single-sex spaces exist on campus in areas such as bathrooms and locker rooms; freeze tuition for five years; cap international undergrad student enrollment to 15% overall and to “provide instruction in American civics to all foreign students.”
The compact also asks academic institutions to revise government structures to ensure free speech and abolish institutional units that "belittle" or “spark violence” against conservative ideas. It calls for faculty and staff to restrain from commenting on social or political events as university personnel.
The White House told universities it is aiming to sign an official agreement by Nov. 21.
As the UT Austin community waits to hear university officials’ decision, there are other issues playing out across the larger UT System. Students in Austin and Dallas are involved in a legal battle regarding freedom of speech. There is uncertainty about the future of gender studies courses after a system-wide audit was announced. Additionally, a UT Austin professor was dismissed from his administrative duties last week due to “ideological differences.”
