The White House convened university leaders as its Oct. 20 deadline for a voluntary “Compact for Academic Excellence” approached, escalating a months-long campaign to tie federal research preferences to institutional changes. Education Department officials held talks with campus presidents after the administration signaled preferential funding for signatories and threats for holdouts. Administration memos and reporting show the White House is using meetings and categorical incentives to push changes on enrollment, tuition and campus speech. The push has prompted public rebukes from several research universities and a coordinated response from higher-education associations. University leaders told reporters they were briefed on funding mechanics but remain wary of any deal that conditions research awards on operational or curricular concessions. Key actors include the U.S. Department of Education, White House advisers, and a cohort of invited research universities. The interaction sets up a short-term compliance test with long-term implications for federal-university relationships and campus autonomy.