2 universities decline White House offer for expanded access to federal funding in exchange for demands. Here’s what we know

The Van Wickle Gates stand at the edge of the main campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, on August 16, 2022. Brian Snyder/Reuters/File

The battle for academic freedom and institutional sovereignty in higher education continues to play out as another university has rejected a White House offer for expanded access to federal funding in return for agreeing to a series of demands.

Brown University on Wednesday declined an offer by the Trump administration to join a compact that would potentially give preferential funding in exchange for a list of changes to school policy, including no longer considering sex and ethnicity in admissions and capping international enrollment. The letter was sent to nine universities at the beginning of the month.

The compact is aimed at “t