The New College of Florida has made headlines as the first educational institution to embrace a funding compact introduced during the Trump administration. This agreement, which offers preferential treatment in government grants, aligns with the college’s recent shift under the influence of Governor Ron DeSantis’ conservative leadership.

Originally, this compact was proposed to nine prestigious schools, including notable names like Dartmouth College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brown University. However, these institutions declined to publicly endorse the agreement, expressing concerns about potential threats to their academic freedom and citing fundamental philosophical disagreements.