How The Trump Administration Is Pressuring Universities To Fall In Line

Summary

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NPR Politics Podcast

Episode: How The Trump Administration Is Pressuring Universities To Fall In Line

Date: October 27, 2025
Hosts: Miles Parks, Domenico Montanaro, Alyssa Nadworny

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Episode Overview

The episode dissects the Trump administration’s recent efforts to pressure universities to align with its political and cultural priorities. The primary focus is the introduction of a "compact" policy document sent to select universities, intended to encourage compliance with administration priorities in exchange for preferential federal treatment. The discussion covers the content of this compact, universities' reactions, and the broader context of federal influence in higher education. The commentators also explore historical parallels and the ongoing tension between academic freedom and political power.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Administration's Higher Education Priorities

[01:01–02:19]

• Alyssa Nadworny outlines five policy goals the Trump administration is pressing on universities:
  • Removing race from admissions processes, following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on affirmative action.
  • Targeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
  • Addressing alleged and actual antisemitism on campuses.
  • Reducing influence of foreign governments via restrictions on international students.
  • Enforcing cultural policies on issues like trans rights and restricting institutional gender acknowledgment.

"The first is getting race out of admissions. ... Then there is DEI initiatives ... Antisemitism on campus, alleged anti Semitism and confirmed antisemitism ... international students ... and then kind of these hot button cultural issues like transgender use of bathrooms or making sure that schools only recognize two genders."
— Alyssa Nadworny [01:30]

2. Ideological Context & Political Rationale

[02:19–03:22]

• Domenico Montanaro explains conservatives' longstanding belief that universities promote a liberal agenda, and how this new compact is an attempt by Trump to micro-manage these institutions in line with his broader cultural platform.

"...Conservatives have for a long time felt like colleges and universities impose what they feel is a liberal agenda ... obviously this is a way [for] Trump to try to get these universities to align with his agenda and with his cultural point of view..."
— Domenico Montanaro [02:29]

3. The "Compact": What Is It?

[03:22–04:40]

• Alyssa describes the compact as a policy proposal sent to nine leading universities (public and private), requesting they adopt administration priorities to receive favorable federal treatment. The ask includes:
  • Removing race as a consideration in admissions.
  • Freezing tuition for five years.
  • Returning to standardized testing requirements (SAT/ACT).
• The compact contains both mainstream and controversial demands.

"...It essentially asked colleges to sign on to these political priorities in order to get preferential treatment in federal funding... from equality in admissions to freezing tuition for five years."
— Alyssa Nadworny [03:33]

4. University Responses

[04:40–06:11]

• Most universities rejected the compact, citing protection of academic freedom and the importance of a firewall between academia and federal government.
• Some, however, welcomed dialogue with the administration.
• There’s a split between institutions open to negotiation and those firmly protecting their autonomy.

"...the majority of colleges said, not gonna sign this. It interferes with what we perceive as the role or the firewall kind of between academia and the federal government."
— Alyssa Nadworny [04:40]

5. The Stakes: What Do Colleges Risk?

[06:11–07:22]

• Miles probes what universities stand to lose by refusing the compact.
• Alyssa clarifies the compact’s language is vague; while billions in federal funding and research grants could potentially be at stake, terms are not explicit. The administration frames this as the start of a conversation, not a punitive ultimatum.

"It's not super clear. The language is really vague in the compact. ... And the administration has said again and again ... this is the beginning of a conversation."
— Alyssa Nadworny [06:30]

6. Changing Tactics: From Stick to Carrot

[07:22–08:13]

• The compact represents a shift from earlier punitive executive orders or investigations to a more negotiated approach.
• Some colleges view this as a better alternative; others remain deeply wary.

"...the first six months were marked by the administration putting out executive orders or investigating colleges ... cutting billions of dollars ... now we're kind of seeing this shift to ... a negotiation rather than ... a punitive investigation."
— Alyssa Nadworny [07:37]

7. Academic Freedom & Slippery Slope Concerns

[09:29–10:28]

• After the break, the panel explores the academic community’s fear that capitulating to one administration’s demands could set precedent for future interventions, undermining academic freedom.

"I think there is a deep fear in academia that once you kind of sign onto something like this, that could set a precedent ... a binding agreement ... is antithetical to ... the freedom of speech and freedom of expression that we have in America."
— Alyssa Nadworny [09:57]

8. Retaliation Fear & Political Pressure

[10:28–11:47]

• Miles and Domenico discuss the risks universities feel in opposing the Trump administration, given its reputation for retribution and the resignation of university leaders under its pressure.

"You never know with the Trump administration just how punitive it's gonna be if you decide to go against them or what winds up filtering up to Trump himself. ... his administration has a lot of tools at its disposal to go after them and go after them hard."
— Domenico Montanaro [10:51]

9. Increased Communication Channels

[11:47–12:05]

• Alyssa notes that, as a side effect, direct lines of communication between university leaders and the White House have significantly increased—possibly part of the administration’s intent.

"...the lines of communication between them and the White House have really open up in a way that they haven't in kind of recent memory, which, you know, could potentially be what all this is for."
— Alyssa Nadworny [11:47]

10. Investigations as a Tool of Pressure

[12:05–13:26]

• The administration is also leveraging federal investigations via multiple departments (Education, Justice, HHS) to pressure universities on issues like DEI, race in admissions, and antisemitism.
• Recent outcomes, like the agreement with University of Virginia, resulted in compliance without fines—resembling longstanding federal practice more than a radical departure.

"...the Justice Department opens up these investigations and they made a deal to pause them temporarily. ... no money exchanged hands, there's no fine. And essentially, UVA agreed to, in this very legal document, abide by federal civil rights law, which is not, I guess, controversial."
— Alyssa Nadworny [12:15]

11. Historical Perspective: What's New, What's Not

[13:26–15:41]

• The hosts review past presidents’ impacts on higher education, noting that while policy nudges are common, Trump’s direct attempt to shape campus culture and admissions is comparatively unique.
• While other administrations (Biden, Obama, Bush, Reagan) pushed affordability and funding changes, rarely did they intervene so explicitly on academic values or content.

"...not necessarily what they teach, not necessarily who they hire."
— Domenico Montanaro [15:41]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Alyssa Nadworny [01:30]:
  "There are kind of five priorities that they have cited... getting race out of admissions, DEI initiatives, antisemitism on campus, international students, and these hot button cultural issues like transgender use of bathrooms or making sure that schools only recognize two genders."

• Domenico Montanaro [02:29]:
  "...This is a way Trump to sort of specifically and in a micro sort of way try to get these universities to align with his agenda and with his cultural point of view..."

• Alyssa Nadworny [04:40]:
  "The majority of colleges said, not gonna sign this. It interferes with ... the firewall kind of between academia and the federal government. ... It doesn't have anything in here that says that our academic freedom is protected."

• Miles Parks [06:11]:
  "I'm a little confused about what the stakes are for the colleges that do say no, like preferential treatment for federal funds. What does that actually mean?"

• Domenico Montanaro [10:51]:
  "...His administration has a lot of tools at its disposal to go after them and go after them hard. And we've seen university presidents bow out of their jobs, in fact, in the first 10 months of the Trump presidency, the second time around."

• Alyssa Nadworny [09:57]:
  "There is a deep fear in academia that once you kind of sign onto something like this, that could set a precedent, that ... a binding agreement ... is antithetical to ... freedom of expression..."

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Key Timestamps

• 01:01 – Introduction to the Trump administration's five higher ed priorities.
• 03:33 – Details of the “compact” and what it asks from colleges.
• 04:40 – University responses: resistance and concerns about autonomy.
• 06:11 – What’s at stake for colleges that say no.
• 07:37 – Shifting from punitive tactics to negotiation.
• 09:29 – Fears regarding academic freedom and setting precedents.
• 10:51 – Risks and retribution for defying administration wishes.
• 12:05 – The use of investigations and negotiated compliance with universities.
• 13:26 – Historical perspective: how past administrations handled higher ed.

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Tone & Conclusion

The conversation is measured yet critical, highlighting the tension between government oversight and academic independence. The hosts and guests recognize similarities with previous administrations but stress that the Trump administration’s attempts to culturally reshape higher education stand out for their explicitness and pressure tactics. Both risks and motivations—on the government and university sides—are aired openly, providing listeners with a comprehensive view of the ongoing struggle between political power and the autonomy of American academic institutions.

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Transcript

[NPR Announcer]

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[Miles Parks]

Hi, this is Daniel Bret Hauer from Berkeley, California, where I am a graduate student in the astronomy department at UC Berkeley. I am just about to submit a year's worth of research on simulating Kilanova to a journal for peer review. This podcast was recorded at 1:07pm on Monday, October 27, 2025. Things may have changed by the time you hear this, just like how my work will have changed and improved thanks to the peer review process of other scientists reading and critiquing my work. Okay, enjoy the show. I don't know why that one got me. I was just not expecting that to go that way. Hey there. It's the NPR Politics podcast. I'm Miles Parks. I cover voting.

[Domenico Montanaro]

And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspond.

[Miles Parks]

Our education correspondent Alyssa Nadwoorny is also here with us. Hi, Alyssa.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Hello.

[Miles Parks]

It's great to have you here. Thank you. And today on the show we are talking about higher education. The Trump administration has been trying to push schools toward the president's priorities, most recently with a so called compact that the administration has asked some university leaders to sign. And Alyssa, I'm hoping we can just back up for a second because Trump and many Republicans have had a lot of issues over the years with universities specifically accusing them of all different manners of liberal bias. What are their specific goals when it comes to changing colleges?

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Well, I guess I would say that there are kind of five priorities that they have cited over the last, say eight months. The first is getting race out of admissions. So this follows the supreme court decision in 2023 to essentially ban affirmative action. Then there is DEI initiatives, diversity, equity and inclusion. It's kind of like falls in that race bucket. Antisemitism on campus, alleged anti Semitism and confirmed antisemitism international students. There's been a number of executive orders to basically curb the influence of foreign governments through kind of students coming into the US and studying here. And then kind of these hot button cultural issues like transgender use of bathrooms or making sure that schools only recognize two genders.

[Miles Parks]

It's interesting. I feel like, Domenico, a lot of those issues kind of line up very cleanly with a lot of things Trump ran on in 2024, more broadly, even unrelated to colleges.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Yeah, it's been striking to me because, you know, obviously conservatives have for a long Time felt like colleges and universities impose what they feel is a liberal agenda. You'll have a kid who comes from a conservative community as they see it, then they go off to college, learn things, and then are brainwashed. Right. I mean, you've heard this for a long time from conservatives, but obviously this is a way Trump to sort of specifically and in a micro sort of way try to get these universities to align with his agenda and with his cultural point of view, which is something obviously, as you're alluding to, that he ran on, not just in 2024, but in 2016 as well. I mean, the idea that you wouldn't have race and admissions, you wouldn't have race as a consideration in hiring, all of that stuff has been something that has been a huge touchstone for Trump and conservatives for a long time.

[Miles Parks]

So, Alyssa, this so called compact is a way that the Trump administration seems to be trying to push some of these colleges toward their priorities. What was this compact and what was it specifically asking colleges to do?

[Alyssa Nadworny]

So the compact was kind of a policy document sent to nine colleges, public and private. Pretty elite institutions like Brown University was on it, University of Texas, Austin. This was sent out at the beginning of October. They had about 20 days to get back to the administration. And it essentially asked colleges to sign on to these political priorities in order to get preferential treatment in federal funding. So some of the things it asked colleges to do were to have equality in admissions, essentially to take race out of admissions. A lot of the stuff we talked about at the top. And then there were some kind of more palatable, less controversial things, such as freezing tuition for five years, which some colleges have actually already done separate from this. Another one was requiring the SAT and Act for admissions, which again, many colleges do. It's not standardized, but that's certainly something to discuss.

[Miles Parks]

Okay, so some mainstream ideas and then some kind of, as you put it, more controversial ideas in education. How have the colleges broadly kind of responded to the idea of this compact?

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Well, there was a deadline for feedback, and as that deadline approached, the majority of colleges said, not gonna sign this. It interferes with what we perceive as the role or the firewall kind of between academia and the federal government. It doesn't have anything in here that says that our academic freedom is protected. So a lot of colleges were worried about that. But some colleges kind of put out statements that said, we're excited to talk to the administration to open up this dialogue about changes in higher ed policy.

[Miles Parks]

Does that surprise you at all, Domenico, that so many of these Colleges, I guess, did initially decline this compact request.

[Domenico Montanaro]

I mean, I think that there's a lot of universities that are struggling to figure out how to deal with life in the Trump administration. Just like we've seen with a lot of private industry groups, whether it's the media or law firms, some of whom tried to have these deals, side deals with the Trump administration, thinking maybe it'll help them grease the wheels for whatever it is mostly to have the Trump administration leave them alone and continue to do the things that they normally do. So I think that this has been a decision that, that some schools have decided to say, yeah, let's try to take an open minded approach and let's work with them so that they're in favor with the Trump administration and other universities are saying no, this is our autonomy and we don't wanna allow any room for a government, for the administration, for any administration to say, hey, this is how you need to do things and we're gonna agree to that.

[Miles Parks]

Well, I wonder whether some of these colleges are feeling more emboldened to say no to this because I'm a little confused about what the stakes are for the colleges that do say no, like preferential treatment for federal funds. What does that actually mean? Like what is the risk to a college that decides they aren't going to sign this compact in clear terms, Alyssa?

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Well, I think that is absolutely what's kind of motivating a number of these schools to be okay with saying no, because it's not super clear. The language is really vague in the compact. And you know, potentially what's at stake, of course is billions of dollars in federal funding for research grants, the student loan system that's kind of props up tuition, a lot of Republicans argue. And so that's at stake. So there's certainly like the potential for real implications. And yet the compact really doesn't clearly spell it out. And so I think there was some kind of like confusion perhaps or like, you know, and the administration has said again and again, like in the following week from this deadline passing, that this is the beginning of a conversation. This is kind of the first step in reforming higher ed. They're much more loose on their language than kind of punitive. If you don't sign, here are the consequences.

[Miles Parks]

Well, just taking a step back a little bit on this compact too. It seems to me this is a little bit of a changing of tactics from the Trump administration. Is that right? I mean, in terms of actually trying to get buy in from the university as opposed to like we're just gonna tell you what to do, and you're gonna have to live with it.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Yeah. I think this can be read as kind of a more carrot approach than stick, you know, I mean, the first six months were marked by the administration putting out executive orders or investigating colleges for improper use of what they saw as a political priority or cutting billions of dollars in federal research grants. And so now we're kind of seeing this shift to this seems to be a negotiation rather than kind of a punitive like a for an investigation, which.

[Miles Parks]

I guess makes sense then why some colleges are kind of welcoming that as opposed to the alternative, right?

[NPR Announcer]

That's right.

[Miles Parks]

Yeah. All right. Well, let's take a quick break and more in just a moment.

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[Alyssa Nadworny]

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[Miles Parks]

And we're back and we've been talking about this college compact. The Trump administration has been asking some university leaders to sign onto that relates to their priorities when it comes to higher education. I do wonder about the idea of academic freedom and just kind of like whether some of these schools are looking at this as a little bit of a slippery slope, that if they sign on to something like this, like this is not the end of requests, I guess, coming from political administrations, whether this one or the next one. Do you think that's how universities are looking at this?

[Alyssa Nadworny]

I think there is a deep fear in academia that once you kind of sign onto something like this, that could set a precedent, that the kind of like bigger picture idea of a binding agreement Such as this, which dictates a lot of what goes on in a college or in a university, is antithetical to kind of like the freedom of speech and freedom of expression that we have in America. There were a number of organizations that basically warned colleges not to sign this, that said, like, we think this compact is a step in the wrong direction.

[Miles Parks]

Domenico, I do wonder, though, about the risk, I guess, of crossing the Trump administration in any way. I mean, you mentioned the, you know, other different aspects of society, whether it's law firms, media organizations. It is a. Is a dangerous game, I guess, to say, no, we're not going to sign onto this because of all the different tactics, I guess the Trump administration has shown that they're willing to use when it comes to retribution.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Yeah, I think a lot of them are probably nervous when they look at a letter, even if it seems like something that in the words they might be able to agree to. You never know with the Trump administration just how punitive it's gonna be if you decide to go against them or what winds up filtering up to Trump himself. And he gets annoyed about or sees, you know, I mean, you think about just what he did with, you know, Canadian trade talks, because he saw one advertisement that got him upset and decided to, you know, call it all off. I mean, if one, you know, university president decides to say something out of line in how Trump sees it, then his administration has a lot of tools at its disposal to go after them and go after them hard. And we've seen university presidents bow out of their jobs, in fact, in the first 10 months of the Trump presidency, the second time around. So I think a lot of them are very skittish and very concerned about how they're gonna deal with the Trump administration trying to strike that balance.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Now, one kind of side effect of what Domenico is talking about is a lot of the college presidents and chancellors and boards that I've been talking to do say that the lines of communication between them and the White House have really open up in a way that they haven't in kind of recent memory, which, you know, could potentially be what.

[Miles Parks]

All this is for, broadening out from the compact a little bit. What other tactics has the Trump administration used to try to push universities in the direction of their political priorities?

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Well, a huge one has been investigations and kind of using every aspect of the federal government to do this. So the Education Department has opened investigations, the Justice Department, hhs. There was just a recent agreement between the federal government and the University of Virginia, and this was over their use of DEI initiatives on campus and also race in admissions and anti Semitism. So essentially, the Justice Department opens up these investigations and they made a deal to pause them temporarily. And what I think is kind of interesting about this deal is that no money exchanged hands, there's no fine. And essentially, UVA agreed to, in this very legal document, abide by federal civil.

[Miles Parks]

Rights law, which is not, I guess, controversial. Is that the underlying.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

That's actually how the system is supposed to work and how it has worked in previous administrations. I mean, I think this is something that people don't realize, but investigating a college for not following federal law is pretty common. Every administration has done it, and often they reach agreements like the one they reached with uva, where the college says, yep, we did something wrong, we're going to fix it, update you, and you'll close the investigations.

[Miles Parks]

Got it. To what extent is all of this new? I keep trying to come to an answer on, like, what is unprecedented in all different facets of kind of Trump administration Round two, I mean, is when you kind of look at this, whether it's the use of investigations, whether it's this compact, I mean, is this business as usual or.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Yeah, I think that that's the issue with Trump, is that you're not sure ever what they're gonna exactly go after you on. He's got a huge reach, a huge megaphone. And to embarrass, whether it's university presidents or the schools themselves, I mean, we have seen past presidents try to affect higher education in different ways. I mean, the Biden administration really tried to tackle affordability, going after things like free community college, student loan forgiveness, a lot of which was shut down by the Supreme Court. And we saw Biden and the Obama administration really target for profit colleges because of low graduation rates, low placement rates. They didn't think that they were very good use of people's money. Obama really tried to increase Pell Grant funding. Again, a lot of it really had to do with affordability, but also looking at teacher training in the K12 space so that kids were more ready for college. George W. Bush obviously had a BIG initiative for K12 with no child Left behind, but also tried to tackle things like affordability and service with some incentives really was a thing that he pushed for more. The only thing that's sort of parallel in some respects is looking back at the Reagan administration and what Ronald Reagan tried to do ideologically with feeling that colleges were too dependent on the federal government for grants. He changed a lot of the grant structure to loans and really felt like the federal government was spending too much money on these colleges and wanted colleges to sort of reverse that a bit and be able to spend money that they get from tuition on some of the initiatives that they want rather than have the federal government step in. So we've seen presidents want to have their hand in some respects to try to shape what colleges and universities do and how they function, but not necessarily what they teach, not necessarily who they hire.

[Miles Parks]

Yeah. Well, let's leave it there for today. NPR education correspondent Alyssa Nadworny. Thanks for being with us.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

You bet.

[Miles Parks]

I'm Miles Park. I cover voting.

[Domenico Montanaro]

I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent.

[Miles Parks]

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