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Last week the U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon produced the latest attack on academia, “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," which was addressed to a small group of well known US universities. If you missed it, there is a description at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_for_Academic_Excellence_in_Higher_Education [wikipedia.org]

Today (10/10/2025) MIT was the first of the group to reject the offer. Here is the letter from MIT's president, https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact [mit.edu]
It's not long and worth a read, here is the punch line,

In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

And here's one of her bullet points,

MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family’s finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.

Original Submission