October 16, 2025
Dear Trojan Family,
Earlier today, I sent this letter to the U.S. Department of Education regarding the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. I appreciate the various points of view shared with me by many members of our community. Although USC has declined to join the proposed Compact, we look forward to contributing our perspectives, insights, and Trojan values to an important national conversation about the future of higher education.
Fight On!
Beong-Soo Kim
Interim President
Dear Secretary McMahon,
Thank you for your October 1, 2025 letter seeking feedback on the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. The Compact raises a number of issues worthy of further discussion within both higher education and our nation. The University of Southern California is grateful for the opportunity presented to reiterate some of our core values.
USC fully agrees that academic excellence cannot exist without a “vibrant marketplace of ideas where all different views can be explored, debated, and challenged.” To foster such an environment at USC, we have committed ourselves to institutional neutrality and launched a number of initiatives designed to promote civil discourse across the ideological spectrum. Without an environment where students and faculty can freely debate a broad range of ideas and viewpoints, we could not produce outstanding research, teach our students to think critically, or instill the civic values needed for our democracy to flourish.
USC also takes its legal obligations very seriously, including the laws prohibiting discrimination in admissions, hiring, and student discipline. Beyond our legal duties, we are privileged to serve the nation in many ways. Since 1914, USC has commissioned more than 5,000 officers through continuously operating ROTC programs. More than 1,400 students use full Yellow Ribbon VA benefits annually, including through specialized academic programs and veterans services. We also strengthen America’s national security through longstanding, strategic research partnerships with the federal government, including one of only fifteen University-Affiliated Research Centers in the nation. We look forward to celebrating these enduring relationships during the 250th anniversary of our country next year.
While USC takes pride in these efforts, we recognize that public trust in higher education depends on our willingness to listen, improve, and hold ourselves accountable. We are diligently working to streamline administrative functions, control tuition rates, maintain academic rigor, and ensure that students develop critical thinking skills in the era of artificial intelligence. We always welcome feedback from our students and their families, the communities we serve, the private sector, and government partners on how we can do better.
Notwithstanding these areas of alignment, we are concerned that even though the Compact would be voluntary, tying research benefits to it would, over time, undermine the same values of free inquiry and academic excellence that the Compact seeks to promote. Other countries whose governments lack America’s commitment to freedom and democracy have shown how academic excellence can suffer when shifting external priorities tilt the research playing field away from free, meritocratic competition.
Although USC respectfully declines to participate in the proposed Compact, the issues and aspirations raised by it are worthy of a broader national conversation to which USC would be eager to contribute its insights and expertise. While USC is a proudly private university, we recognize the tremendous public trust that has been placed in us, and we remain as committed as ever to advancing the values of academic excellence, equal opportunity, open dialogue, and accountability in everything we do.
Sincerely,
Beong-Soo Kim
Interim President