Newsom Vows Immediate Funding Cuts to California Colleges Entering Trump Agreement

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) hit back at President Trump’s university compact introduced Thursday, which says higher education institutions that agree to certain changes will receive priority in federal funding.  

“IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY’LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING INCLUDING CAL GRANTS INSTANTLY. CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM,” Newsom said in a statement.  

The compact was sent to nine universities, including the University of Southern California, and the Trump administration has indicated it will be available to more schools in the future.  

To join, universities would need to change several aspects of their institutions, including hiring and admissions practices, adopting institutional neutrality and the exclusion of transgender women from women’s locker rooms and sports teams.  

The Trump administration also wants schools to commit to reforms for a “vibrant marketplace of ideas,” freeze tuition rates for five years and limit foreign student enrollment to 15 percent, among other things.  

Any school that signs the 10-point memo, titled the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” would receive preferential treatment in federal funding for grants. Schools that don’t will still be allowed to receive federal money.  

Newsom’s pushback comes as the president has aimed to use federal funding as a lever to force universities to adopt his administration’s desired reforms.  

A judge recently ruled the Trump administration had to restore funding that was paused to the University of California, Los Angeles.