UT Austin could receive funding advantages if it meets White House demands

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The Trump administration is offering the University of Texas at Austin preferential funding treatment if it agrees to sign a compact that will change certain processes on campus.

The compact was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, and it is called the, “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education."

The agreement would force the schools to not factor in diversity, equity, and inclusion policies when hiring staff or admitting students. The compact also calls on the universities to freeze their tuition rates for five years and limit the number of foreign students with a visa to no more than 15% of the undergraduate student body. It also said no more than 5% of those students can be from one country.

“The University of Texas System is honored that our flagship —The University of Texas at Austin—has been named as one of only nine institutions in the U.S. selected by the Trump Administration for potential funding advantages under its new ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,'" Kevin Eltife, the chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said in a statement.

According to university data, UT spent more than $1 billion on research in fiscal year 2024. Sixty percent of those expenditures -- $690,835,450 -- came from federal funding in that same year.

“We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately," Eltife said in his statement. "Higher education has been at a crossroads in recent years, and we have worked very closely with Governor Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Burrows to implement sweeping changes for the benefit of our students and to strengthen our institutions to best serve the people of Texas."

The university system said it looks forward to working with the Trump administration on the compact. If the university ultimately decides not to agree to the compact, it does not necessarily mean it will lose federal funding.