The deadline to sign on to President Donald Trump’s higher education compact is quickly approaching. Colleges and universities throughout the U.S. have until this Friday to make a decision on the agreement.
So far, none of Oregon’s higher education institutions have publicly signed on.
The U.S. Department of Education’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is among the agency’s latest tools to bend the nation’s universities toward the Trump administration’s vision for higher ed.
The proposal lays out certain provisions schools must adhere to, including new admissions requirements, revised campus free speech policies and changes to faculty hiring. The compact doesn’t explicitly state what universities would get out of the arrangement, but it alludes to several “federal benefits” such as student loan access, research funding, approval of student and faculty visas and tax advantages.
In an OPB query regarding the compact, nearly all of the state’s public universities either said they had not been contacted by the federal government about it or that they did not plan to sign it.
“While Portland State has not been asked to sign this compact, our commitment to equity, inclusion and academic freedom is unwavering,” wrote PSU spokesperson Katy Swordfisk, in an emailed statement. “We will not endorse any measure that contradicts our core values or hinders our work to build a campus where every student and employee can thrive.”
The Education Department first sent the document to nine universities on Oct. 1, asking for feedback by Oct. 20. None of the universities initially invited are located in the Pacific Northwest. After a tepid response from the first set of institutions, the agency opened up the invitation to any college in the nation. Of the nearly 6,000 institutions in the U.S., just three have indicated interest in joining the compact.
Higher education advocacy groups immediately pegged the proposal as a thinly veiled bribe, offering preferential treatment to schools willing to comply with the administration’s priorities.
The American Association of Colleges and Universities said its member schools welcome “reform” and “legitimate oversight.” But it said this compact “is not constructive engagement.”
“University presidents cannot bargain with the essential freedom of colleges and universities to determine whom to admit and what is taught, how, and by whom,” said AAC&U in a statement last month. “They cannot trade academic freedom for federal funding — and should not be asked to do so.”
The presidents of Portland State, Reed College and Willamette University all signed onto the AAC&U statement.
| Higher education institution | Response to OPB |
|---|---|
| Portland State University | Stated they will not sign Trump’s compact and signed AAC&U letter condemning compact |
| Eastern Oregon University | Stated they will not sign Trump’s compact |
| Pacific University | Stated they will not sign Trump’s compact |
| University of Portland | Stated they will not sign Trump’s compact |
| Reed College | No response, signed AAC&U letter condemning compact |
| Willamette University | No response, signed AAC&U letter condemning compact |
| Oregon State University | Said not contacted by federal administration |
| University of Oregon | Said not contacted by federal administration |
| Oregon Health & Science University | Said not contacted by federal administration |
| Western Oregon University | Said “there’s no discussion” about the compact |
| Southern Oregon University | Said they’re monitoring the situation |
| Oregon Institute of Technology | No response |
| Lewis & Clark College | No response |
| Linfield University | No response |
| Warner Pacific University | No response |
| George Fox University | No response |
| Bushnell University | No response |
Some criteria in the compact already align with the mission and values of many higher education institutions. But compromising institutional autonomy is a non-starter for many schools.
“The University of Portland already abides by some conditions set forth in the compact,” said UP spokesperson Dan Christopherson in an email to OPB. “Nevertheless, the University is not in a position at this time to sign the compact given our commitment to functioning as an independent, private Catholic institution.”
Perhaps an even bigger impediment for Oregon’s public universities is the compact’s “financial responsibility” provision, which calls for signatories to freeze tuition rates for five years. The state’s public universities have consistently raised tuition every year for the past decade to keep up with increasing personnel costs, inflation and decreased state investment in higher education.
“That’s the one issue that they kind of got right,” said Bonnie Mann, a faculty union leader with United Academics of the University of Oregon. “It shows that they at least are paying attention to this problem of massive student debt. But they don’t really offer a solution.”
In response to the federal proposal, UAUO has created their own agreement. Called the “Oregon Compact on Higher Education,” the document calls on the academic community to preserve, protect and defend institutions.
“We recognized the Trump compact as a loyalty oath for higher education institutions, sort of a way to create loyalty to a leader,” Mann said. “But we’re supposed to be loyal to a sense of education for the common good.”