The United States government has asked nine US universities to agree to a number of demands in order to receive “preferential access” to federal funds.The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the universities had received a memo telling them to cut foreign enrolment and crack down on departments that “belittle” conservative ideas if they are to qualify for funding.The White House has not publicly announced the memo and has not explained why these nine universities in particular have been singled out.Here is what we know about the new requirements for universities seeking federal funding.What does the White House memo to US universities say?The 10-point memo is titled “A Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”.Under the terms of the agreement laid out in the memo:
Universities must ensure that admissions and financial support services disregard race and sex when admitting students and hiring staff and faculty.
They must publicly share anonymised admissions data, including GPA and test scores, broken down by race, national origin and sex.
All applicants to universities are required to take a standardised test, such as the SAT, before they can be admitted.
International students must not make up more than 15 percent of undergraduate enrolments.
Universities must ensure they remain a “vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus” with no dominant political ideology.
They mus …
