The UNC System is likely to respond on behalf of its 16 universities to the “call to action” letter U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent to university presidents and governing boards last week.
That’s according to system spokesperson Andy Wallace, who said a blanket response makes sense because “many of the questions in the letter build on initiatives we’ve been successfully working on for years, including affordability, free expression and high academic standards.”
Most U.S. colleges last fall rejected the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, a sweeping proposal that would have given schools a leg up on federal funding if they agreed to follow a set of requirements that aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities, including banning the consideration of race and sex in hiring, freezing undergraduate tuition, limiting international undergraduate enrollment, and shutting down academic departments that “belittle” conservative ideas.
McMahon’s letter asks about similar topics, urging schools to post “prominently” on their websites information about how they will ensure transparency and prioritize merit in admissions; protect free expression on campus and prevent disruptions from protests; encourage “intellectual pluralism” among faculty; improve access to affordable, high-return degrees; “incentivize rigor” amid the growth of AI and grade inflation; protect academic programs and research from “foreign influence;” and “contribute materially to the Nation’s prosperity.”
“I encourage universities to respond concretely to these questions and provide full transparency to the American people,” McMahon wrote. The Association of American Universities and several university presidents helped draft the document.
The letter does not offer benefits to schools that respond or list consequences they might face for ignoring its directives. But experts warn that campuses that refuse to respond or answer in ways that the administration finds inadequate could be at risk of losing federal grants due to a pending rule that would allow officials to cut funding for schools if they are not aligned with the president’s priorities, Inside Higher Ed reported.
Wallace didn’t list specific policies that UNC System officials would mention in their response, which would be posted to the system website. But officials have touted the system’s nine-year commitment to keeping tuition flat, its study of the returns students receive on their degrees, and its regulation on campus protests, among others. He did not answer a question about whether additional “reforms,” as described by McMahon, might be required to address the secretary’s requests.
The system’s response would cover UNC-Chapel Hill, where Chancellor Lee Roberts said last fall he would not sign the original compact; UNC-CH deferred to the system’s comment on the letter, as did NC State University. We also asked a handful of other North Carolina colleges about their plans. Duke University, Wake Forest University, and Davidson College did not respond to our requests.
Elon University provided a statement that did not explicitly state its plans. In part, it read: “The university transparently communicates information to students, families and the community about its mission, focus on excellence in teaching and learning, honor code, admissions criteria, career outcomes, cost, principles of free expression, and responsible and effective use of artificial intelligence. Elon works to demonstrate the outcomes and tremendous value of higher education to society, and always welcomes ideas about additional ways to share information about its mission and commitment to student success.”
Meanwhile, last fall’s compact could be making a return in statehouses around the country. The conservative Heritage Foundation last week published model legislation that would require public colleges to implement many of the compact’s requirements. But it would also go further than the initial proposal, Higher Ed Dive reported, including by allowing college governing boards to ban a course from general-education requirements for “any reason.”
