MIT Rejects Trump Administration’s Offer Of Federal Funding
October 12, 2025
6:04 am
MIT, the first U.S. university to reject a federal funding proposal from President Donald Trump’s administration that ties research grants to compliance with a conservative policy agenda.
In a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), President Sally Kornbluth said the university “cannot accept conditions that undermine freedom of inquiry or compromise our independence as an academic institution.” She added that the White House proposal “includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression.”
The Trump administration sent the proposal to nine universities in early October 2025. It would require …
