In its first 100 days, the Trump administration has moved quickly to weaponize levers of power in the federal government to attack free speech and academic freedom at U.S. colleges and universities. This has not unfolded in a vacuum; it is an escalation of efforts to exert political and ideological control over higher education that have flourished in many state legislatures for the last four years, and which are also still ongoing.
This has included numerous lines of attack, among them: ultimatums to strong-arm some of the country’s most well-reputed universities into reshaping academic governance, efforts to impose new restrictions on the bounds of scientific research, the harrowing arrests of students legally in the U.S., and the revocation of international students’ visas, a tactic the administration abruptly walked back after weeks of confusion on campuses.
Scholars who study and seek to improve the health of all Americans are feeling silenced and anxious, as the number of freezes on federal grants balloons by the day. At the same time, the administration is attempting to broadly expand the reach not only of federal civil rights statutes such as Title VI, but also of a Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in university admissions. The administration’s efforts to impose its favored orthodoxy misstate the law to go far beyond the ruling of that case to go after any race-conscious efforts or initiatives, including diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
As Harvard University president Alan M. Garber summarized in his letter refusing the administration’s demands, this amounts to nothing short of an effort at “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’” of the American academy.
“These moves by the Trump administration show that the goal is to bring American universities into submission, dictate their policies, control what is taught, and weaken their independence, regardless of how it may jeopardize the mission and durability of the sector as a whole,” said Kristen Shahverdian, PEN America’s Campus Free Speech program director.
Below, PEN America gathered information to measure the impact of this assault on American campuses. While admittedly incomplete, this data demonstrates the wide ranging effects of the administration’s actions and the threat to the ideals of free expression and academic freedom that they represent.
2.7
2.7 million dollars in funding slashed by NIH from the University of Texas-El Paso’s U-RISE and G-RISE programs, which provided stipends, tuition support and training expenses for undergraduate and graduate students from underserved communities studying biological sciences and biomedical engineering.
6
Minimum number of noncitizens lawfully living in the U.S. detained or targeted for deportation under Trump’s executive order aimed at foreign students who protested or voiced opinions online about the Israel-Hamas war. Six suits contesting such detentions on First Amendment grounds were filed, but one case was closed, reportedly after the student left the country. Separately, the American Association of University Professors and other groups sued over the policy to deport those who participated in pro-Palestinian protests, citing the First Amendment.
6
Number of masked, plain-clothes Department of Homeland Security agents who detained Rümeysa Öztürk on the street in Somerville, Massachusetts, before bundling her into an unmarked van, apparently in retaliation for the Turkish doctoral student co-signing an Op-Ed in the Tufts University campus newspaper calling for the school to divest from companies directly tied to Israel.
6
6.1 billion dollars of potential negative impact to the US economy from the wide-ranging funding cuts to scientific research.
12
12 a.m. on March 6, Columbia PhD student Ranjani Srinivasan received an email from the U.S. consulate in her hometown of Chennai, India, stating her visa was abruptly cancelled. After ICE agents repeatedly showed up at her apartment door trying to detain her without a warrant, she fled to Canada. Four days later, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem publicly called her a “terrorist sympathizer” for her online support for Palestinians.
12
12.1 billion dollars in combined research funding for Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania threatened for elimination if these universities don’t comply with various demands from the Trump administration.
15
New positions created for researchers in the French program, “A Safe Place for Science,” which is recruiting American scientists to move abroad. The Netherlands is among other countries launching funds to support American scientists whose research can no longer continue in the U.S.
15
15% blanket cap the Trump administration placed on the use of federal grant research funds for indirect costs of medical research, such as overhead and facilities, from as high as 70%, depending on the type of research and location.
21
Number of studies and papers written by two Harvard professors pulled off the Health and Human Services Department’s Patient Safety Network website, because of references to transgender and LGBTQ patients. Their subsequent lawsuit maintains the removal violated the doctors’ First Amendment rights.
35
35% reduction in the number of graduate students being accepted at University of Pennsylvania in anticipation of up to $240 million in federal research funding cuts. More than 13,722 graduate and professional students were enrolled to start the current school year.
45
Number of universities that partnered with the non-profit PhD Project, which supports Black, Latino and Native American students in business doctoral programs, that are now under investigation by the Education Department for allegedly using “racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.”
54
Number of university research programs pausing or changing graduate admissions following executive orders and research funding upheaval. Hiring freezes or “chills” are now in place in at least 37 universities.
60
Probes launched by the Education Department of universities for alleged “antisemitic discrimination and harassment” on campus.
75
75.3% of scientists considering leaving the United States following the disruptions to campuses and research, according to a March poll of 1,600 scientists by Nature. For early career scientists, the figure rose to 79.4%.
100
Number of NIH-funded clinical trials forced to shut down abruptly due to funding cuts.
400
Millions of dollars of research grants and contracts the Trump Administration canceled from Columbia University as it sought to get the Ivy League school to comply with demands to change campus protest rules and academic policies. The move came just 32 days after an investigation of the school began.
400
More than 400 active grants from the National Science Foundation abruptly canceled after months of scrutiny of the agency. The cuts followed a review of grants containing words related to diversity, equity and inclusion, but also targeted research involving misinformation and artificial intelligence, and came despite a restraining order issued in January that said the administration could not terminate active awards to comply with Trump’s executive orders.
700
Number of research grants funded by the Department of Health and Human Services that have been cut, including studies on HIV/AIDS, cancer, COVID-19, and Alzheimer’s disease.
700
Estimated number of students in the Department of Defense Language Institute’s overseas immersion programs, which helped prepare them for duty abroad with intense training in foreign languages; funding for the immersion programs was cut by the administration.
900
Minimum number of active research grants related to studies involving LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity and diversity, equity and inclusion so far cancelled by the NIH. At least four university researchers, along with American Public Health Association and Ibis Reproductive Health, filed suit over the cancelations.
1047
International students from China enrolled at the University of Maryland, one of six schools to receive letters from the Republican-led House of Representatives demanding details about Chinese national students and researchers’ involvement in federally funded research. Stanford University, University of Southern California, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Purdue and Carnegie Mellon were also targeted.
1200
Estimate of minimum number of grants to culture and history cancelled from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), including numerous grants that were headed to universities.
1700
Total participants in a 25-year-long Harvard research study on diabetes that is ending several years early because of the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts.
1800
Minimum number of foreign students and recent graduates who had their visas revoked by the State Department before many of them were restored, at least temporarily. While several high-profile cases involve individuals who participated in campus protests or otherwise voiced views in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, the reasons behind many of the revocations were a mystery.
17000
Number of jobs at risk in scientific research due to cuts at the National Institutes of Health.
