The Trump administration’s October 2025 Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education sparked an overdue conversation about the relationship between universities and the federal government. The administration identified issues that deserve to be addressed. But its approach provoked serious objections, even from sympathetic observers. That has created an opening for alternatives that are more workable and rooted in legislative authority. To that end, AEI’s Conservative Education Reform Network commissioned contributions from some of the right’s most thoughtful higher education thinkers. Each tackles one of the compact’s eight priorities, seeking to offer Congress, state lawmakers, and campus leaders a path forward.
In this report, Beth Akers and Preston Cooper take on financial responsibility.