The Trump administration sent letters to nine top U.S. universities urging them to sign a ‘compact’ that aligns campus policies with the administration’s political agenda to maintain access to federal research funding. The compact includes provisions such as tuition freezes, caps on international student enrollment, and governance changes to protect conservative viewpoints. Signatory institutions would receive priority funding and assurances of civil rights compliance. This move intensifies governmental pressure on higher education institutions to conform to politically driven criteria.