MIT rejects White House proposal to overhaul policies for preferential funding

Other universities still mulling proposal while MIT’s president said it would compromise academic freedom

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has become the first US university to formally turn down a Trump administration proposal that would overhaul university policies in return for preferential access to federal funding.

MIT’s president, Sally Kornbluth, disclosed the decision in a Friday letter to the campus community, attaching her written response to the US education secretary, Linda McMahon.