39 Trump-Proof Universities

Forbes: 39 Trump-Proof Universities

Key Concepts: University endowments, federal research funding, financial independence, academic freedom, diversity programs, student protests, anti-semitism, financial grade, restricted funds.

Harvard's Stance and Trump Administration's Response

• Harvard University President Alan Garber refused to comply with the Trump administration's demands to eliminate diversity programs, curb student protests, and allow federal audits.
• This refusal followed a review of $9 billion in funding for Harvard by federal agencies.
• The Trump administration retaliated by freezing $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts.
• Trump threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status via a post on Truth Social.
• Harvard's $53 billion endowment, AAA debt rating, and relatively low reliance on federal support enable it to withstand the financial pressure.

Criteria for "Trump-Proof" Universities

• Forbes identified 39 universities with the financial strength to resist the Trump administration's demands, framed as combating anti-semitism on campus.
• The primary criterion is a large endowment, specifically at least $500,000 per student.
• Universities must also have earned at least a B+ grade on the Forbes financial grade ranking.
• Reliance on federal dollars for operating revenues must be relatively low.

Exclusion of Certain Ivy League Institutions

• Columbia University (endowment: $14.8 billion) and Cornell University (endowment: $10.2 billion) are absent from the list.
• Despite their large endowments, these institutions enroll tens of thousands of students, resulting in a per-student endowment of approximately $360,000 each.
• Columbia University ultimately caved to the administration's demands after being threatened with the loss of $400 million in federal grants and contracts. They agreed to review its Middle East studies programs, overhaul student protest policies by hiring 36 special officers, and ban face coverings.

Financial Independence and Federal Funding Reliance

• Princeton University, with a $33 billion endowment, relies on federal dollars for 20% or less of its operating revenues.
• Yale University, with a $40.7 billion endowment and A+ financial grade, announced a plan to continue funding faculty members and graduate students whose grants were terminated.

Types of Institutions on the List

• Wealthy private research institutions like the University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University, and Washington University in St. Louis are included.
• Wealthy liberal arts and faith-based institutions, such as Williams and Amherst Colleges (each with a $3.3 billion endowment and A+ financial grades) and Davidson College (with a $1.3 billion endowment and a financial grade), also make up a significant portion of the list.
• Smaller institutions are more heavily focused on undergraduate teaching, which does not rely on federal research funding.

Endowment Restrictions and Research Funding

• Lucy Leovsky, a higher education finance and governance consultant and former president of Mercy College, explains that using endowment funds to offset research funding shortfalls is not straightforward.
• "Most of the funding that is being frozen is research funding and most endowment money is restricted to specific things so you couldn't suddenly divert it to AIDS research or cancer research or climate research because it's paying for scholarships or for faculty chairs or things like that."
• Endowment funds are often restricted to specific purposes, such as scholarships or faculty chairs, and cannot be easily redirected to cover research expenses.

Conclusion

The Forbes list highlights 39 universities that possess the financial resources, primarily through large endowments and low reliance on federal funding, to potentially resist the Trump administration's demands. However, the restricted nature of endowment funds presents a challenge in directly offsetting losses in federal research funding. The article emphasizes the importance of financial independence for universities seeking to maintain academic freedom and resist external pressures.