WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s administration urged colleges in a Wednesday memo to sign a deal limiting their foreign enrollment and barring race- and sex-based admissions policies, among other terms, in return for preferential access to federal funds.
The 10-point memo, shared with Reuters by a White House official, demands schools cap international undergrad enrollment at 15%, ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions, freeze tuition for five years, require that applicants take the SAT or a similar test and quell grade inflation.
Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for universities over a range of issues, such as protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. He has alleged that universities harbor “anti-American” and anti-conservative values.
Rights advocates raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over actions that they say are aimed at aligning universities with Trump’s political agenda.
The memo urged viewpoint diversity in faculty, students and staff, including revising governance structures and “transforming or abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”
The memo said foreign students should be supportive of “American and Western values” and urged colleges “to screen out students who demonstrate hostility to the United States, its allies, or its values.”
It also said universities should share all known information about foreign students, including discipline records, upon request with the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.
The guidance is likely to raise due process and privacy concerns in light of the Trump administration’s recent attempts to deport pro-Palestinian students. The attempts have faced legal challenges.
The memo said that “no more than 15% of a university’s undergraduate student population shall be participants in the Student Visa Exchange Program, and no more than 5% shall be from any one country.”
For schools presently over the 15% population, incoming matriculating classes should meet the 15% cap, it added.
Letters were sent Wednesday to solicit agreement and feedback from Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia, the White House official said.
Universities that sign on will get “multiple positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants,” a letter addressed to university leaders said. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
The memo said that adherence to its agreement will be subject to review by the US Justice Department and universities found to be in violation would “lose access to the benefits of this agreement.”
The Trump administration has launched probes into multiple colleges, particularly surrounding claims of widepsread antisemitism amid protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The government has reached settlements to resolve probes with Columbia and Brown universities, both of which accepted certain government demands. Columbia agreed to pay more than $220 million to the government and Brown said it will pay $50 million to support local workforce development.
Trump said Tuesday his administration was close to a deal with Harvard University that would include a $500 million payment by the university.
Trump has said universities allowed antisemitism during anti-Israel protests while protesters, including some left-wing Jewish groups, have said that the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism and support for extremism.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.