ASU and two other universities were invited to meet with officials on Friday, Oct. 17, to discuss the "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," according to the Wall Street Journal.
The proposal would offer preferential federal funding access to schools that agree to the Trump administration's terms. The invitation comes after nine initial universities, including UA, were invited to join the compact at the beginning of October.
A person familiar with the matter said ASU is "interested in an agreement with the administration on a set of shared principles," but concerns remain about the legality of the agreement and some of its terms, according to the Wall Street Journal.
ASU officials have met with members of the Trump administration in recent weeks to discuss those concerns, the Wall Street Journal reported.
An ASU spokesperson did not confirm if ASU was present for an Oct. 17 meeting.
"ASU has long been a voice for change in higher education and as President Trump's team seeks new and innovative approaches to serve the needs of the country, ASU has engaged in dialogue and offered ideas about how to do so," the spokesperson said in a written statement on Monday.
As a copy of the document published by the Washington Post shows, the compact would require agreeing universities to meet 10 terms, some of which would require policy changes from ASU.
Universities that sign the compact would be required to freeze effective tuition rates for American students for the next five years.
The proposal also obligates participating universities to cap undergraduate international student enrollment to 15%, for students who are in the Student Visa Exchange Program. International students currently make up 4.7% of ASU's 2024-25 undergraduate enrollment, according to ASU's website.
The proposed compact would stop universities from making any admissions or employment decisions on the basis of factors like race or sex.
"We've never had DEI goals, but we're more diverse than we've ever been," ASU president Michael Crow told The State Press in March. "That's because we have a charter based on the idea of inclusion."
Institutions would be prohibited from treating students unequally on the basis of "immutable characteristics, particularly race," with regards to grading, access to buildings, scholarships and other resources.
Additionally, the compact said "women's equality requires single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, and fair competition, such as in sports." It also enforces that institutions must define terms related to gender based on "reproductive function and biological processes."
Another requirement of the proposal is mandatory standardized testing for admissions, or "program-specific measures of accomplishment" for specialized programs such as music and art. Currently, ASU provides options for admission that do not require SAT or ACT scores.
Under the compact, participating universities would also be responsible for ensuring demonstrators do not heckle individual students or groups. It also says universities cannot allow activities that disrupt educational instruction or study. In addition, it requires that universities do not knowingly "allow obstruction of access to parts of campus based on students' race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion."
Employees, in their capacity as university representatives, would be required to "abstain from actions or speech relating to societal and political events except in cases in which external events have a direct impact upon the university," according to the compact.
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Seven of the initial nine university administrations have since publicly rejected the compact. In a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, UA President Suresh Garimella declined to participate in the proposed compact.
"We have much common ground with the ideas your administration is advancing on changes that would benefit American higher education and our nation at large," Garimella wrote. "At the same time, a federal research funding system based on anything other than merit would weaken the world's preeminent engine for innovation, advancement of technology, and solutions to many of our nation's most profound challenges."
In a publicly released written statement, Arizona Board of Regents Chair Doug Goodyear said ABOR supports Garimella's response.
"The board is committed to protecting the values of Arizona higher education that have made it the best in the world - most importantly academic freedom, institutional independence and merit-based research," Goodyear said. "And that remains our focus."
This story is developing and may be updated.
Edited by Kate Gore, George Headley, Katrina Michalak and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporters at spbracci@asu.edu and coyer1@asu.edu and follow @SophiaBraccio and @carstenoyer on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Carsten Oyer is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication, as well as public service and public policy. This is his second semester with The State Press, having previously worked as a politics reporter.
Sophia is a senior studying journalism and mass communication. This is her sixth semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Nomads with Notebooks and Blaze Radio and interned for The Arizona Republic.
