After attempting to bludgeon U.S. colleges and universities into complying with its ideological mandates, the Trump administration is trying a new tactic: using financial incentives to encourage schools to comply.
The memo asks schools to cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15%, ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions, freeze tuition for five years, require standardized tests like the SAT, and address grade inflation. It also urges universities to promote viewpoint diversity among students, faculty, and staff, and to revise or remove institutional units that, the memo claims, “punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”
10-Point Memo Summary
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Cap international undergraduate enrollment at 15%.
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No more than 5% of students from any one country.
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Ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions.
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Freeze tuition for five years.
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Require applicants to take the SAT or a similar standardized test.
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Address grade inflation across courses.
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Promote viewpoint diversity among students, faculty, and staff.
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Revise or remove institutional units that punish or belittle conservative ideas.
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Screen foreign students for support of “American and Western values” and check for hostility to the US or its allies.
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Share all known information about foreign students, including discipline records, with the Department of Homeland Security and State Department.
Letters requesting agreement and feedback were sent to Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, MIT, University of Texas, University of Arizona, Brown University, and University of Virginia. Colleges that comply will gain “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” the memo says. Adherence will be reviewed by the US Justice Department, and violating universities may lose access to these benefits.
So far:
The universities of Southern California and Virginia told Reuters that university officials are still reviewing the White House’s memo. The University of Texas said it was “enthusiastically” looking forward to working with the administration on its requirements.