Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday threatened to chop “billions” in state funding, together with to USC, from any California campus that indicators a Trump administration compact and agrees to sweeping and largely conservative campus insurance policies in trade for precedence entry to federal funding.
“If any California College indicators this radical settlement, they’ll lose billions in state funding — together with Cal Grants — immediately,” Newsom mentioned. “California is not going to bankroll faculties that promote out their college students, professors, researchers, and give up tutorial freedom.”
The daring assertion got here lower than a day after the White Home requested the College of Southern California and eight different main universities all through the nation to shift to the appropriate and comply with Trump’s views on gender id, admissions, range and free speech amongst different areas — in trade for extra favorable entry to federal analysis grants and extra funding.
Universities have been requested to signal a “Compact for Tutorial Excellence in Larger Training” committing them to undertake the White Home’s conservative imaginative and prescient for America’s campuses. The letter, despatched out Wednesday, additionally suggests faculties ought to align with Trump’s views on pupil self-discipline, faculty affordability and the significance of exhausting sciences over liberal arts.
The request represents the most recent tactic by the Trump administration to aggressively reshape universities — which he says are bastions of liberalism which are illiberal of Republicans — by leveraging federal funding to power campuses to stick to his conservative beliefs.
Newsom’s response echoed a equally forceful assertion over a $1.2-billion Trump advantageous in opposition to UCLA for alleged civil rights violations in August, when he mentioned UC ought to sue and never “bend the knee” — no go well with by the college system has been filed. His fast swing again Thursday ratchets up his strident push in opposition to the Trump administration — together with mocking Trump’s social media. Newsom’s assertion was issued in all-capital letters, mirroring the president’s trademark social media fashion.
Cal Grants, the state’s largest monetary support program to private and non-private universities, are awarded primarily based on revenue. College students grow to be eligible by means of the Free Software for Federal Scholar Help (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Software. In 2024-25, $2.5 billion in Cal Grants have been doled out.
The compact would additionally severely limit worldwide pupil enrollment to fifteen% of a faculty’s undergraduate pupil physique and not more than 5% may come from a single nation, a provision that will hit exhausting at USC, the place 26% of the autumn 2025 freshman class is worldwide. Greater than half of these college students hailing from both China or India.
Full-fee tuition from worldwide college students is a serious income at USC, which has undertaken a whole lot of layoffs this 12 months amid funds troubles.
In a press release launched earlier than the Newsom announcement, USC mentioned solely that it was “reviewing the administration’s letter.” Officers didn’t instantly reply to a renewed request for remark.
“No self-respecting college ought to signal on to this proposed compact,” mentioned state Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates), who chairs the Meeting Training Committee. “Universities won’t ever have the ability to stay down a popularity of promoting out their principals of educational freedom and free speech on these enticements of preferential therapy.”
The proposal, which might change many insurance policies at one of many nation’s largest and most outstanding personal universities, caught a number of USC deans and directors off-guard after they discovered of White Home request from information studies, in response to USC workers and staffers who weren’t approved to talk publicly on the matter.
Components of the compact are related in language and beliefs to a sweeping federal proposal despatched in August to UCLA that provided to re-instate a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} in analysis grants to the campus if the College of California agreed to federal calls for and pay a $1.2-billion advantageous for a way UCLA responded to alleged antisemitism on campus.
However the White Home letter to USC and different campuses, together with the College of Arizona, takes a special method than the punitive actions in opposition to UCLA and different elite universities. As a substitute of providing to revive suspended authorities funding in trade for campus coverage overhauls, the federal government says it’ll dole out new cash and provides choice to the schools over others that don’t comply with the phrases.
Signing on would give universities precedence entry to some federal grants, however authorities cash wouldn’t be restricted solely to these faculties, in response to a White Home official. Schools that agree would even have precedence entry to White Home occasions and discussions with officers.
The compact asks universities to simply accept the federal government’s definition of gender and apply it to campus loos, locker rooms and ladies’s sports activities groups. It says faculties would cease contemplating race, gender and a variety of different pupil demographics within the admissions course of and to require undergraduate candidates to take the SAT or ACT.
USC, since a 2023 Supreme Court docket resolution, isn’t allowed to contemplate race in admissions, and public California universities have been barred from doing so underneath state legislation since 1997. USC is “check elective” in its utility course of and college students can resolve whether or not or to not submit scores.
“‘It’s upsetting as a college member and a instructor and a product of upper training to see this administration making an attempt to dismantle tutorial freedom and free speech in such a scientific approach,” mentioned Devin Griffiths, a USC affiliate professor of English and comparative literature. Griffiths mentioned he would “push exhausting for our college to forcefully reject this and I might hope that there’s house right here for the schools which are focused by this order to take a collective stand.”
Sanjay Madhav, an affiliate professor of apply on the USC Viterbi engineering college, mentioned the compact gave the impression to be “blatantly in violation of the First Modification because it states that the federal authorities goes to offer choice to universities that align with its political opinions.”
In an electronic mail despatched to colleagues Thursday and shared with The Instances, USC Cinematic Arts college professor Howard Rodman summed up his place: “It’s abundantly clear that both the schools stand collectively and refuse the reward of ‘prioritized grants,’ or greater training in the USA will grow to be an entirely owned subsidiary of MAGA, LLC…. I might urge USC to keep in mind that whenever you lie down with canines, you rise up with fleas.”
Liam Wady, a junior at USC, mentioned college students have been brazenly speaking about it because the information broke.
“It’s a superb steadiness of confusion and concern,” Wady mentioned. He mentioned he was concerned within the pro-Palestinian protests at USC and was left feeling just like the college failed to guard him. Now, he mentioned he’s apprehensive the college will associate with Trump’s compact.
“I simply wouldn’t be shocked if the varsity would find yourself adopting Trump’s political priorities simply due to the way in which they handled us previously,” Wady mentioned.
The ten-page proposed settlement was despatched Wednesday to private and non-private universities, together with a number of the most selective establishments within the county. Along with USC and the College of Arizona, it went to Vanderbilt, the College of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth School, the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how, the College of Texas, Brown College and the College of Virginia.
It was not clear how these faculties have been chosen or why, and whether or not related presents would possibly exit to different faculties.
A few of the faculties are in purple states which were extra pleasant to Trump’s greater training priorities. Texas officers endorsed the compact.
Leaders of the Texas system have been “honored” that the Austin campus was chosen to be part of the compact and its “potential funding benefits,” in response to a press release from Kevin Eltife, chair of the Board of Regents. “Right this moment we welcome the brand new alternative introduced to us and we stay up for working with the Trump Administration on it,” he mentioned.
USC has largely maintained a low-profile stance and has averted making public statements on the president’s greater training agenda.
In April, when greater than 220 college leaders signed onto an American Assn. of Schools and Universities assertion in opposition to “undue authorities intrusion within the lives of those that be taught, stay, and work on our campuses,” former USC President Carol Folt mentioned publicly that she declined to signal.
In February, after the Division of Training launched steering opposing race and ethnicity-themed scholarships, graduations and different packages, USC closed down its range places of work and re-named associated web sites whereas many different California universities refused to conform.
USC additionally faces a troublesome monetary outlook. In a July campus letter, interim president Beong-Soo Kim mentioned {that a} funds deficit surpassing $200 million coupled with federal funding challenges would require layoffs and different cost-cutting measures. Greater than 600 layoffs have hit the campus since then, in response to Morning, Trojan, an unbiased outlet that screens USC information.
Representatives from the College of Arizona different faculties didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The administration has used its management of federal funding as leverage at a number of high-profile establishments, chopping off analysis cash at UCLA, Harvard and Columbia because it has sought adjustments to the faculties’ governance and insurance policies.
College of California leaders are negotiating with the Division of Justice over federal calls for, though the urgency for talks has slowed after a federal decide ordered almost all the $584 million in suspended well being and science analysis grants on the Los Angeles campus to be restored. Trump mentioned this week that he was “near finalizing” a take care of Harvard that would come with it paying $500 million for a “a large commerce college” run by the college.
Faculties that signal on must cap tuition for U.S. college students for 5 years and the wealthiest campuses wouldn’t cost tuition in any respect for college kids pursuing “exhausting science packages.”
On free speech, faculties must decide to selling a variety of views on campus. That features “reworking or abolishing institutional items that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence in opposition to conservative concepts,” in response to the compact.
Every college must fee an annual ballot of scholars and college to judge the campuses’ adherence to the pact. The phrases could be enforced by the Justice Division, with violators shedding entry to the compact’s advantages for a minimum of a 12 months. Following violations bump the penalty to 2 years.
“Establishments of upper training are free to develop fashions and values apart from these under,” the compact mentioned, “if the establishment elects to forego federal advantages.”
Kaleem and Gutierrez are Instances workers writers. Madhani studies for the Related press in Washington. Collin Binkley of the Related Press additionally contributed to this story.
