The University of Pennsylvania on Thursday became the third school to reject President Trump’s proposal to give funding preferences to institutions that agree to concessions, such as capping international enrollment and freezing tuition, and taking steps to protect conservative viewpoints.
The presidents of M.I.T. and Brown University had already said they were rejecting the proposal, called the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which was sent to nine universities. The list included both public universities and Ivy League schools, and Mr. Trump has suggested on social media this week that the list would be expanded.
Penn’s president, J. Larry Jameson, informed the university community in a message on Thursday that he had notified Linda McMahon, the education secretary, of Penn’s decision not to sign the agreement. The announcement followed pushback, from both members of Penn’s faculty and state elected officials. Two of the officials went so far as to propose legislation opposing the deal.
In his message, Dr. Jameson said he had sought input from faculty, alumni, trustees and students on whether to sign the compact. Ultimately, he said he wrote to Ms. McMahon about what he described as areas of “existing alignment as well as substantive concerns.”
“At Penn, we are committed to merit-based achievement and accountability,” he wrote in his statement on Thursday, ahead of an Oct. 20 deadline set by the White House for an initial response.
The University of Texas at Austin, one of the schools invited to join the compact, had indicated an early willingness to entertain the proposal, developed in part by Marc Rowan, a billionaire private equity financier. But others have raised concerns.
Among the concerns: The document sets up a two-tiered system that uses federal funds to penalize schools declining to comport with the White House’s demands.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But on Thursday, Liz Huston, a White House spokeswoman, responded to Brown’s rejection of the proposal by saying that “any university that joins this historic effort will help to positively shape America’s future.”
Mr. Rowan, a Penn alumnus who helped drive out Dr. Jameson’s predecessor from office in 2023, was among the proposal’s leading champions and worked on drafts of the document months before the White House circulated it to schools.
Dr. Jameson’s explanation for Penn’s decision was more circumspect than those that the leaders of Brown and M.I.T. offered over the last week as they rebuffed the White House.
M.I.T.’s president, Sally Kornbluth, described the compact as “inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone” and warned it could “restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution.”
And not even 24 hours before Dr. Jameson’s announcement, Brown’s president, Christina H. Paxson, wrote that she worried that the proposal’s provisions would “restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission.”
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.
Alan Blinder is a national correspondent for The Times, covering education.
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