This story is developing and will continue to be updated.
United States Secretary of Education Linda McMahon published a letter Monday calling on universities to publicly disclose answers to a list of questions on institutional reform by the end of 2026.
The message, titled “A National Call to Action to University Presidents and Governing Boards,” asks universities across the country to respond to seven prompts ranging topics from admissions and tuition to free speech and political ideology. The effort comes after Penn rejected the White House’s October 2025 preferential funding compact, which was sent to only nine schools but listed similar higher education reforms.
A University spokesperson wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian that Penn is reviewing the letter. Requests for comment were left with the Education Department and the White House.
In the letter, McMahon wrote that universities should “reaffirm their commitment to serving the American people” given that “Americans’ trust in universities has reached record lows.” She referenced Yale University’s Committee on Trust in Higher Education and a report on politicization from Vanderbilt University and Washington University.
The message additionally cites changes already enacted by universities such as “adopting positions of institutional neutrality and improving policies related to campus protests.”
Penn President Larry Jameson announced that the University would adopt a position of institutional neutrality on local and global events in September 2024. The University’s open expression policies have been in the process of revision since the June 2024 institution of temporary standards for campus demonstrations that tightened restrictions on events and protests.
McMahon further explained that the “statements of principle should be posted prominently on institutional websites” and should detail “adopted and planned reforms.”
Unlike the compact, the Aug. 3 letter does not explicitly condition federal support on university reforms and is instead framed as providing “full transparency to the American people.” It is unclear whether universities will face consequences for failing to respond to the Department of Education’s questions.
Still, the reform language echoes ideas from the compact — and from the list of questions circulated by former Wharton School Board of Advisors Chair Marc Rowan. The questions were sent to the University Board of Trustees in December 2023 just days after former Penn President Liz Magill stepped down.
Staff reporter James Wan covers academic affairs and can be reached at wan@thedp.com. At Penn, he studies communication and computer science. Follow him on X @JamesWan__.
