Ohio State University officials say the state’s flagship institution is well prepared to answer the Trump administration’s latest appeal to colleges – but they stop short of saying whether it will.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a three-page letter to universities across the country last week, asking campus leaders to publicly explain their stance on a variety of issues ranging from admissions to campus protests.
“Based on our initial review of the letter, we believe Ohio State is in a strong position to highlight the university’s mission and explain the many ways Ohio State makes Ohio and America stronger,” a university spokesperson said.
McMahon’s request – the latest call from Washington aimed at reining in what federal leaders believe is a too-liberal higher education system – isn’t law.
It also doesn’t tie adherence to federal funding, making it different from a related ask the government made to nine universities in 2025. Both received blowback from some in the higher education world, including labor unions representing professors.
Some of these new federal requests also overlap with existing state law. Ohio’s public colleges already must adhere to similar policies regarding free speech and rejecting foreign influence under Senate Bill 1, the sweeping law passed last year overhauling how public higher education works in Ohio.
This federal push expands into other areas, such as college affordability and how institutions plan to “incentivize rigor in the age of AI.”
National higher ed leaders help shape call to colleges
McMahon’s letter covers a lot of ground. Topics range from ensuring admissions criteria are more transparent to asking how institutions plan to center scientific research work “to support the country’s economic and security needs.” The secretary asked institutions to post detailed responses online by the end of the year.
“This forthright conversation with the American people is long overdue,” wrote McMahon. “And it is the essential first step toward rebuilding trust in the sector.”
The Association of American Universities provided guidance to federal leaders on the letter before it was released. The group represents nearly 70 of the country’s most influential research institutions, including Ohio State.
Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University – the only other AAU member in Ohio – declined to comment.
Former Case Western Reserve President Barbara Snyder currently leads the AAU. She told the New York Times she and two top members of the organization’s board “engaged” with the education department. Snyder “believed the discussions could advance ‘a working relationship with the government,’” according to the Times.
National faculty unions slammed the AAU’s involvement. They called it an “unconscionable dereliction of duty.”
Union leaders also urged professors across the country to tell their own institutional leaders to rebuke the letter’s requests. They cited it as the government wanting “colleges and universities to align themselves with a far-right agenda at the expense of students’ education and the public’s well-being,” according to a news release.
Community colleges call letter ‘confusing’
McMahon’s letter was addressed to university presidents and governing boards. But its asks are being made to all post-secondary institutions, which include community colleges and universities with fewer financial resources.
National community college leaders called the document “confusing.” They noted that two-year publics have different priorities and face different challenges than elite research institutions.
“We are open access, have affordable tuition and fees, sustain tight connections to business needs and are deeply trusted in our communities,” American Association of Community Colleges’ president and CEO, DeRionne Pollard, said in a statement.
The AACC said that while individual institutions may choose to respond on their own, they aren’t required to do so.
Instead, officials said the national lobbying group will formally respond on behalf of the sector as a whole, “differentiating itself from the universities and elite institutions that have drawn the administration’s criticism.”
