Kevin Eltife, chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents, speaks duiring the University of Texas at Austin’s university-wide Commencement Ceremony at Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, May 10, 2025.
Aaron E. Martinez / American Statesman
The Trump administration has selected the University of Texas at Austin as one of nine schools eligible for federal funding advantages if it agrees to cap international student enrollment, recognize only two genders, freeze tuition for five years, and protect conservative speech under a new “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
In exchange for complying, UT would get priority access to research funding and looser rules on overhead costs, according to a letter and memo first reported Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.
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UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said in a statement shared first with the American-Statesman on Thursday that the system is “honored” to be selected and is “enthusiastically” working with UT to review the demands.
“Higher education has been at a crossroads in recent years, and we have worked very closely with Governor Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Burrows to implement sweeping changes for the benefit of our students and to strengthen our institutions to best serve the people of Texas,” Eltife said. “Today we welcome the new opportunity presented to us and we look forward to working with the Trump Administration on it.”
The University of Texas, which spends more than $1 billion on research annually, lost more than $47 million in research funds earlier this year after the Trump administration enacted sweeping federal cuts, according to records obtained by the Statesman. The university also enrolled 1,504 fewer international students — a 1.7% drop — after the administration cut thousands of student visas, announced stricter vetting procedures and heightened concerns among applicants.
On Wednesday, the UT System announced a review of all gender identity courses, in line with other university systems, after Texas A&M faced backlash for a professor’s discussion of gender identity in a children’s literature course. A student’s critique of the course as allegedly illegal for teaching there are more than two genders went viral on social media, with Gov. Greg Abbott, a close Trump ally, calling for action. The professor, dean, department head and president all lost their jobs within two weeks.
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Brown University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, the University of Arizona and the University of Southern California also received letters with the 10-page compact attached. The administration has indicated the compact could eventually be sent to all schools, the New York Times reported.
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump administration have staunchly advocated for higher education reform, leveraging funding as a tool to urge institutions to comply with their demands at Columbia University. Harvard University, which has resisted Trump’s demands and faced steep financial challenges in doing so, is reportedly approaching a settlement with the administration.
Experts warn that academic freedom — a principle that allows professors to teach and research in their field without political influence — is often threatened by political interference and can jeopardize excellence in higher education by chilling speech.
UT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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In April, President Jim Davis acknowledged faculty concerns about declining federal research funding and vowed to work on contingency plans. The university’s new provost, William Inboden, a former UT professor who most recently directed the legislature-backed civics school at the University of Florida, wrote in a Sept. 22 article in National Affairs that higher education is enduring its “worst crisis” in more than a century and must repair its “ideological imbalance” to rebuild public trust.
Texas lawmakers have passed higher education reform laws in the last two sessions that eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs, limited tenure, curbed faculty influence, more tightly regulated free speech on college campuses and expanded regent power, with some urging universities to go further in reducing perceived liberal bias.
Eltife, who has vowed to oversee enforcement of the new state laws and pushed for greater affordability, including free tuition for Texans from families earning under $100,000 starting this spring, said the system is looking forward to reviewing the compact and working with the Trump administration.
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“The University of Texas System is honored that our flagship — The University of Texas at Austin — has been named as one of only nine institutions in the U.S. selected by the Trump Administration for potential funding advantages under its new ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,'” Eltife said in the statement. “We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately.”