New College of Florida, a small public liberal arts school, said on Monday that it would agree to a set of White House conditions in exchange for federal funding preferences, becoming the first institution to say it would sign on.
The college was once among most progressive in the state, but its politics have shifted rightward under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“As other colleges have rejected the compact, we see it as a bold step forward from the Trump administration that will help preserve America’s place as the world’s number one destination for higher education,” the college said in a news release.
About a dozen other colleges and universities have so far either outright rejected or delayed agreeing to the Trump proposal, which the administration has called the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
The government’s 10-page plan would require colleges to adhere to conditions that include caps on international students, tuition freezes and limited definitions of gender. Education leaders who rejected the agreement said many of the requirements infringed on academic freedom. Schools that agree to the compact would be given preferential treatment in applying for federal funding. That component of the proposal also offended some university leaders, who said merit should determine which institutions receive funding.
New College has embraced much of the conservative agenda for higher education since 2023, when Mr. DeSantis purged the school’s board and leadership. He said he wanted the school to be modeled after Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan.
Mr. DeSantis appointed a Hillsdale dean to the New College board along with Christopher Rufo, a conservative critic of diversity efforts. Following the takeover, at least 125 students left in protest. They were replaced by recruited athletes, mostly male, who were regarded as less progressive and, Mr. Rufo noted at the time, would begin to “rebalance the hormones and the politics on campus.”
In the New College statement, Richard Corcoran, the school’s president, said agreeing to the compact would not be a problem, because the school had already been complying with most of the compact’s provisions for two years.
Stephanie Saul reports on colleges and universities, with a recent focus on the dramatic changes in college admissions and the debate around diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.
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