The Columbia deal with Trump is a blueprint. All of higher ed should fear what comes next.

A student wears a graduation cap with a verse from the Koran written on it at Columbia University in New York on May 21, 2025. | Jeenah Moon/AFP via Getty Images

One by one, elite universities are signing away some of their autonomy to the Trump administration after it has accused them of civil rights violations and withheld federal funding.

The University of Pennsylvania banned transgender women from participating in women’s college sports as part of an agreement with the Trump administration earlier this month.