Penn rejects Trump compact offered to colleges
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Published Oct. 16, 2025, 1:17 p.m. ET
The University of Pennsylvania will not sign the compact proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, which would have given the school preferential consideration for federal funding in exchange for agreeing to operational demands.
“At Penn, we are committed to merit-based achievement and accountability,” Penn President J. Larry Jameson said in a campus message sent Thursday afternoon. “Earlier today, I informed the U.S. Department of Education that Penn respectfully declines to sign the proposed compact.” Jameson said the university provided feedback to the federal government on where Penn found “existing alignment” with the compact “as well as substantive concerns.”
Penn did not immediately release that letter. Jameson said the decision was made after he sought input from faculty, alumni, trustees, students, staff, and others. “The goal was to ensure that our response reflected our values and the perspectives of our broad community,“ he said.
Penn follows Brown University, which similarly said no to the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education on Wednesday, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which rejected the proposal last week. Concerns also have continued to mount at most of the six other original universities that were offered a chance to sign the compact earlier this month. The Trump administration has since opened the offer to all colleges, according to Bloomberg.
Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/education/penn-trump-administration-proposal-funding-20251016.html
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